title: The electroencephalographic fingerprint of sleep is genetically determined: a twin study.
abstract: Humans have an individual profile of the electroencephalographic power spectra at the 8 to 16 Hz frequency during non-rapid eye movement sleep that is stable over time and resistant to experimental perturbations. We tested the hypothesis that this electroencephalographic "fingerprint" is genetically determined, by recording 40 monozygotic and dizygotic twins during baseline and recovery sleep after prolonged wakefulness. We show a largely greater similarity within monozygotic than dizygotic pairs, resulting in a heritability estimate of 96%, not influenced by sleep need and intensity. If replicated, these results will establish the electroencephalographic profile during sleep as one of the most heritable traits of humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Rome "Sapienza", Italy. luigi.degennaro@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Gennaro
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marzano
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fratello
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moroni
authors.forename: Maria Concetta
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pellicciari
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferlazzo
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Couyoumdjian
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Curcio
authors.forename: Emilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sforza
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malafosse
authors.forename: Luca A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Finelli
authors.forename: Patrizio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pasqualetti
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bertini
authors.forename: Paolo Maria
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Rossini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017286:Polysomnography; D012890:Sleep / Q000235:genetics*; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000502:physiology; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000502:physiology; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult