Acute Sleep Deprivation Induces a Local Brain Transfer Information Increase in the Frontal Cortex in a Widespread Decrease Context

Abstract

Sleep deprivation (SD) has adverse effects on mental and physical health, affecting the cognitive abilities and emotional states. Specifically, cognitive functions and alertness are known to decrease after SD. The aim of this work was to identify the directional information transfer after SD on scalp EEG signals using transfer entropy (TE). Using a robust methodology based on EEG recordings of 18 volunteers deprived from sleep for 36 h, TE and spectral analysis were performed to characterize EEG data acquired every 2 h. Correlation between connectivity measures and subjective somnolence was assessed. In general, TE showed medium- and long-range significant decreases originated at the occipital areas and directed towards different regions, which could be interpreted as the transfer of predictive information from parieto-occipital activity to the rest of the head. Simultaneously, short-range increases were obtained for the frontal areas, following a consistent and robust time course with significant maps after 20 h of sleep deprivation. Changes during sleep deprivation in brain network were measured effectively by TE, which showed increased local connectivity and diminished global integration. TE is an objective measure that could be used as a potential measure of sleep pressure and somnolence with the additional property of directed relationships.

Sleep and violence perpetration: A review of biological and environmental substrates

“…The impairment upon this adaptive decoupling further impacts SD vulnerability and induces ambiguity in sleep/wake stages definitions (Krause et al, 2017). In line with these data, short-range increases were obtained for the frontal areas after SD with increased connectivity and lower global integration (Alonso et al, 2016).…”

Reduced Resting-State EEG Power Spectra and Functional Connectivity after 24 and 36 Hours of Sleep Deprivation

“…However, this effect was not observed after 28 h of TSD treatment. Alonso (2016) [ 82 ] recorded EEG during 36 h TSD in 18 healthy adults and found that although transfer entropy significantly decreased after 36 h TSD, the decrease in information transfer during sleep deprivation predominately started after 24 h of TSD.…”

Short-Term Impact of Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea on the Interaction Between Various Cortical Areas

“…This reaction is likely to be a compensatory activation response of neurons in the frontal lobe that is purposed to buffer changes in brain function caused by apnea/hypopnea. 1,38 The frontal cortex plays an important role in executive function, selective attention, and short-term memory maintenance. 39 During the events, sleep-dependent memory consolidation is also disrupted by frontal activation.…”