Week-by-week changes in sleep EEG in healthy full-term newborns

Abstract

Spectral analysis of neonatal sleep is useful for studying brain maturation; however, most studies have analyzed conventional broad bands described for awake adults, so a distinct approach for EEG analysis may disclose new findings. Study Objectives To extract independent EEG broad bands using principal component analysis (PCA) and describe week-by-week EEG changes in quiet sleep (QS) and active sleep (AS) during the first 5 weeks of postnatal life in healthy, full-term newborns. Methods Polysomnography of spontaneous sleep was recorded in 60 newborns in 5 groups at 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 weeks (n = 12 each) postconceptional age (POST-C). QS and AS stages were identified. Absolute power (AP) for 1 Hz bins between 1 and 30 Hz was subjected to PCA to extract independent broad bands. Results PCA rendered three independent broad bands distinct from conventional bands. They explained 82.8% of variance: 2–10 Hz, 10–16 Hz, and 17–30 Hz. ANOVAs (group × age × derivations) showed significant higher power at 2–10 Hz with greater age, higher power in QS than AS in all three bands, and significantly higher AP in the left central region, and in the right occipital and temporal areas, in both sleep stages. Conclusion A different method of analyzing sleep EEG generated new information on brain maturation. The Sigma frequencies identified suggest that sleep spindle maturation begins by at least 41 weeks of POST-C age. Interhemispheric asymmetries during sleep suggest earlier development of the central left region and the right occipital and temporal areas.

Structural and functional brain asymmetries in the early phases of life: a scoping review

“…fMRIs demonstrated a stronger correlation of the medial temporal gyrus with other cerebral areas in the left hemisphere compared to the right (Barttfeld et al 2018). Spectral analysis of the EEGs revealed significantly higher absolute power in the left central region and the right occipital and temporal areas (Corsi-Cabrera et al 2020), the right centro-occipital areas (Eiselt et al 1997), or a general rightward dominance in power (Myers et al 2012). The behavioral state seems to affect spectral content in the right and left hemispheres: During active sleep, spectral power is higher in right posterior regions.…”

The Architecture of Early Childhood Sleep Over the First Two Years

“…of night-awakenings) EF assessment, Mental Development Index of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, MacArthur Communicative Developmental Inventory (Blair et al, 2012 ) Sleep development 11,478 (5922:5556) 6, 18 months Questionnaires Night-time sleep duration, Daytime sleep, Total daily sleep, No. of night-awakenings (Carroll et al, 1999 ) Sleep development 47 2 days old Motility Monitoring System AS, QS, A-Q transitional sleep, S-W transition, Wake, Periods out-of-the-crib (Cheour et al, 2002 ) Learning and Memory 45 2–7 days old Mismatch Negativity (MMN) MMN recordings to analyse the responses to vowel sounds (Coons & Guilleminault, 1984 ) Sleep development 30 3 & 6 weeks, 3 & 6 months EEG, EOG, EMG, ECG Longest sleep period, longest wake period, Spindles, Delta waves, REM, NREM, TST of NREM sleep spindles, Efficiency of a sleep stage, longest period of uninterrupted sleep analysed for duration, Type of onset, Position in 24 h, Stage sequence and efficiency (Corsi-Cabrera et al, 2020 ) Sleep development 60 41–45 weeks post-conception Polysomnography Wakefulness, AS, QS, Transitional sleep, Quantitative EEG analysis (D'Atri et al, 2018 ) Sleep development 39 (25:14) 0–48 months 0–3 n = 14, 4–12 n = 7, 13–24 n = 11, Polysomnography Total sleep period, TST, QS/NREM, AS/REM, % WASO, Sleep spindle detection (Denenberg & Thom...…”

“…Sleep spindles are a hallmark of stage 2 NREM sleep. Sleep spindles should be present in NREM stage 2 on EEG recording by three months (Corsi-Cabrera et al, 2020 ; Ellingson & Peters, 1980 ; Horne et al, 2003 ; Jenni et al, 2004 ; Louis et al, 1992 ; Navelet et al, 1982 ; Sankupellay et al, 2011 ; Sterman et al, 1977 ). Spindles and SWS are believed to stimulate the development of thalamocortical networks by supplying endogenous neural signals with repetitive and co-ordinated activity (Jenni et al, 2004 ).…”

Rapid Eye Movement Sleep during Early Life: A Comprehensive Narrative Review

“…On EMG, notably, phasic muscular contractions in the background of the absence of resting muscle activity during REM sleep are numerously traced. EEG during NREM sleep, in contrast, is characterized by high-voltage slow waves without eye movement tracings and phasic muscular contractions [ 12 , 35 , 43 , 44 ].…”