title: Brain topography of the human sleep EEG: antero-posterior shifts of spectral power.
abstract: To investigate the brain topography of the human sleep EEG along the antero-posterior axis, spectra (0.25-25 Hz; 1 Hz bins) were computed from all-night EEG recordings (n = 20 subjects) obtained from an anterior F3-C3) and a posterior (P3-O1) derivation. State-dependent and frequency-dependent topographic differences were observed. In non-rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, power in the anterior derivation was higher than in the posterior derivation in the 2 Hz bin, and lower in the 4-10 Hz bins. In REM sleep, a posterior dominance was present in most bins below 18 Hz. The 2-6 Hz bins exhibited an antero-posterior shift of power over consecutive non-REM sleep episodes. Consistent shifts of power were also present within non-REM sleep episodes. The results suggest that anterior and posterior cortical regions may be differently involved in the sleep process.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Werth
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Achermann
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Borbély
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors