title: Reduced Alpha power associated with the recall of mentation from Stage 2 and Stage REM sleep.
abstract: Relationships between Alpha (8-12 Hz) activity and cognitive processes during wakefulness raise the possibility of similar relationships between Alpha and cognitive activity during sleep. We hypothesized that Alpha power decreases during both Stage 2 and REM sleep would index the presence of sleep mentation in these stages. Absolute power for six classical EEG bands and three Alpha subbands was calculated for Stage 2 and REM sleep awakenings both with and without mentation recall. In both stages, recall was associated with lower Alpha power, especially with middle Alpha power (9.5-11.5 Hz). Unexpectedly, a similar effect for Delta power (0.5-4.0 Hz) was also observed. The Alpha effect may reflect cognitive elaboration active in the minutes preceding awakening; however, attention and memory processes cannot be excluded. The Delta effect is consistent with prior observations of regular linkages between Alpha and Delta power during sleep.
authors.affiliation: Sleep Research Center, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Maria Josè
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Esposito
authors.forename: Tore A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Tyna
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Paquette
mesh_terms: D000513:Alpha Rhythm / Q000523:psychology*; D004325:Dreams / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*