title: Enhancing sleep quality and memory in insomnia using instrumental sensorimotor rhythm conditioning.
abstract: EEG recordings over the sensorimotor cortex show a prominent oscillatory pattern in a frequency range between 12 and 15 Hz (sensorimotor rhythm, SMR) under quiet but alert wakefulness. This frequency range is also abundant during sleep, and overlaps with the sleep spindle frequency band. In the present pilot study we tested whether instrumental conditioning of SMR during wakefulness can enhance sleep and cognitive performance in insomnia. Twenty-four subjects with clinical symptoms of primary insomnia were tested in a counterbalanced within-subjects-design. Each patient participated in a SMR- as well as a sham-conditioning training block. Polysomnographic sleep recordings were scheduled before and after the training blocks. Results indicate a significant increase of 12-15 Hz activity over the course of ten SMR training sessions. Concomitantly, the number of awakenings decreased and slow-wave sleep as well as subjective sleep quality increased. Interestingly, SMR-training enhancement was also found to be associated with overnight memory consolidation and sleep spindle changes indicating a beneficial cognitive effect of the SMR training protocol for SMR "responders" (16 out of 24 participants). Although results are promising it has to be concluded that current results are of a preliminary nature and await further proof before SMR-training can be promoted as a non-pharmacological approach for improving sleep quality and memory performance.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Austria; Center for Neurocognitive Research, University of Salzburg, Austria. Electronic address: Manuel.Schabus@sbg.ac.at.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schabus
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Dominik P J
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Heib
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lechinger
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Griessenberger
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurocognitive Research, University of Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Klimesch
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Austria; General & Experimental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Annedore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pawlizki
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexander B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Kunz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, UCLA School of Medicine, USA; Department of Biobehavioral Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: Barry M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Sterman
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Austria; Center for Neurocognitive Research, University of Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoedlmoser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D058765:Neurofeedback / Q000379:methods*; D017286:Polysomnography; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Consolidation; EEG; Hyperarousal; Insomnia; Memory; Neurofeedback