Recent research has shown that auditory closed-loop stimulation can enhance sleep slow oscillations (SO) to improve N3 sleep quality and cognition. Previous studies have been conducted in lab environments. The present study aimed to validate and assess the performance of a novel ambulatory wireless dry-EEG device (WDD), for auditory closed-loop stimulation of SO during N3 sleep at home. The performance of the WDD to detect N3 sleep automatically and to send auditory closed-loop stimulation on SO were tested on 20 young healthy subjects who slept with both the WDD and a miniaturized polysomnography (part 1) in both stimulated and sham nights within a double blind, randomized and crossover design. The effects of auditory closed-loop stimulation on delta power increase were assessed after one and 10 nights of stimulation on an observational pilot study in the home environment including 90 middle-aged subjects (part 2).The first part, aimed at assessing the quality of the WDD as compared to a polysomnograph, showed that the sensitivity and specificity to automatically detect N3 sleep in real-time were 0.70 and 0.90, respectively. The stimulation accuracy of the SO ascending-phase targeting was 45 ± 52°. The second part of the study, conducted in the home environment, showed that the stimulation protocol induced an increase of 43.9% of delta power in the 4 s window following the first stimulation (including evoked potentials and SO entrainment effect). The increase of SO response to auditory stimulation remained at the same level after 10 consecutive nights. The WDD shows good performances to automatically detect in real-time N3 sleep and to send auditory closed-loop stimulation on SO accurately. These stimulation increased the SO amplitude during N3 sleep without any adaptation effect after 10 consecutive nights. This tool provides new perspectives to figure out novel sleep EEG biomarkers in longitudinal studies and can be interesting to conduct broad studies on the effects of auditory stimulation during sleep.

Pediatric posterior fossa tumor (PFT) survivors who have been treated with cranial radiation therapy often suffer from cognitive impairments that might relate to IQ decline. Radiotherapy (RT) distinctly affects brain regions involved in different cognitive functions. However, the relative contribution of regional irradiation to the different cognitive impairments still remains unclear. We investigated the relationships between the changes in different cognitive scores and radiation dose distribution in 30 children treated for a PFT. Our exploratory analysis was based on a principal component analysis (PCA) and an ordinary least square regression approach. The use of a PCA was an innovative way to cluster correlated irradiated regions due to similar radiation therapy protocols across patients. Our results suggest an association between working memory decline and a high dose (equivalent uniform dose, EUD) delivered to the orbitofrontal regions, whereas the decline of processing speed seemed more related to EUD in the temporal lobes and posterior fossa. To identify regional effects of RT on cognitive functions may help to propose a rehabilitation program adapted to the risk of cognitive impairment.