Resting-State Subjective Experience and EEG Biomarkers Are Associated with Sleep-Onset Latency

Abstract

Difficulties initiating sleep are common in several disorders, including insomnia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. These disorders are prevalent, bearing significant societal and financial costs which require the consideration of new treatment strategies and a better understanding of the physiological and cognitive processes surrounding the time of preparing for sleep or falling asleep. Here, we search for neuro-cognitive associations in the resting state and examine their relevance for predicting sleep-onset latency using multi-level mixed models. Multiple EEG recordings were obtained from healthy male participants (N = 13) during a series of 5 min eyes-closed resting-state trials (in total, n = 223) followed by a period-varying in length up to 30 min-that either allowed subjects to transition into sleep ("sleep trials," n sleep = 144) or was ended while they were still awake ("wake trials," n wake = 79). After both eyes-closed rest, sleep and wake trials, subjective experience was assessed using the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire (ARSQ). Our data revealed multiple associations between eyes-closed rest alpha and theta oscillations and ARSQ-dimensions Discontinuity of Mind, Self, Theory of Mind, Planning, and Sleepiness. The sleep trials showed that the transition toward the first sleep stage exclusively affected subjective experiences related to Theory of Mind, Planning, and Sleepiness. Importantly, sleep-onset latency was negatively associated both with eyes-closed rest ratings on the ARSQ dimension of Sleepiness and with the long-range temporal correlations of parietal theta oscillations derived by detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). These results could be relevant to the development of personalized tools that help evaluate the success of falling asleep based on measures of resting-state cognition and EEG biomarkers.

Circadian Rhythms in Fractal Features of EEG Signals

“…The question arises as to whether fractal dimension and Hurst exponent provide additional information to spectral features in describing the rest conditions. Previous studies reported evidence that variation in spectral and fractal feature of EEG can be linked to retroactive self-reports of subjective experiences at rest (Knyazev, 2013 ; Diaz et al, 2016 ). Even if with an exploratory purpose, we separately performed a regression analysis for each factor of ARSQ, considered as dependent variable, and with fractal dimension, scaling exponents and band powers as independent variables.…”

Association Between Resting-State Microstates and Ratings on the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire

“…Nevertheless, the relationship of commonly observed resting-state microstates to psychological domains of resting is not clear. Recently, the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire (ARSQ) was introduced (Diaz et al 2013;Diaz et al 2014), offering an effective way to quantify subjective states after a period of resting in a number of domains (Theory of Mind, Discontinuity of Mind, Self, Planning, Somatic Awareness, Sleepiness, Comfort, Health Concern, Visual Thought, Verbal Thought ) and associate these quantifiers to psychological and physiological variables (Diaz et al 2013;Stoffers et al 2015;Diaz et al 2016).…”

Lab meets real life: A laboratory assessment of spontaneous thought and its ecological validity

“…Marchetti et al [ 26 ] demonstrated that individuals with high values on the dimension “Theory of Mind” showed higher functional connectivity in the frontal lobe and in the insula, with a dominance of the left hemisphere, suggesting that connectivity within the frontal lobes facilitates mentalizing ability. Others [ 27 , 28 ] identified associations of several dimensions of the ARSQ with alpha and theta oscillations during rest and with sleep latency. These results suggest that the ARSQ assesses dimensions of ST as rather stable, trait-like characteristics and provide first indications for construct validity with respect to neural correlates of ST as assessed by this questionnaire in nonclinical populations.…”