“…It has been proposed to be an intrinsic property of the brain involved in broader functions such as cognition and consciousness (Crick, 1994;Llinás and Paré, 1996;Singer, 1996). Analyses of coherent activity during sleep have revealed that spectral power is not enough to account for differences between sleep and wakefulness; several studies have demonstrated significant differences in inter-and intrahemispheric coherent activity between wakefulness (W), stage 2, stage 4 and REM sleep (Corsi-Cabrera et al, 1987, 1996, 2003Guevara et al, 1995;Wright et al, 1995;Morikawa et al, 1997;Achermann and Borbély, 1998;Cantero et al, 2000;Tanaka et al, 2000;Pérez-Garci et al, 2001); however, the differences between stage 1 and REM sleep, as already mentioned, have not been thoroughly investigated. The characterization of EEG activity and determination of differences between these two sleep stages may contribute to the understanding of REM sleep physiology and the process of falling asleep; therefore, in this study we analyzed spectral power and spectral correlation during stage 1 from the first non-REM sleep episode of the night and compared it with W and the first REM sleep episode.…”