Facilitation of Spindle-Burst Sleep by Conditioning of Electroencephalographic Activity While Awake

Abstract

A slow-wave electroencephalographic rhythm recorded from the sensorimotor cortex of the waking cat has been correlated behaviorally with the suppression of movement. Facilitation of this rhythm through conditioning selectively enhances a similar pattern recorded during sleep, the familiar spindle burst. The training also produced longer epochs of undisturbed sleep. The specific neural mechanism manipulated during wakefulness appears to function also in sleep and to be involved with the regulation of phasic motor behavior.

Hemodynamic cerebral correlates of sleep spindles during human non-rapid eye movement sleep

“…Although they differ in several respects (1), spindles and rhythm seem functionally related. Indeed, in cats, facilitation of sensorimotor rhythm through conditioning during wakefulness increases spindles and decreases motor output during subsequent sleep (22). Fast spindles might thus emerge from the interaction between the oscillatory properties of these sensorimotor TC loops and the oscillatory context of NREM sleep, characterized for instance by a slow rhythm (Ͻ1 Hz) which organizes the recurrence of spindles (7,23).…”

Progressive Muscle Relaxation therapy in Anxiety: A Neurophysiological Study

“…The ability to generate alpha brainwaves has been associated with the self regulation of stress (Wacker 1996). Previous studies specifically linked anxiety and relaxation with EEG recordings (Isotani et al 2001) and found that an increase in alpha frequencies in the frontal scalp area is an indication of positive relaxation training effects of audiovisual stimulation [9]. Although alpha changes are tightly linked to anxiety changes, this is only evident in highanxiety subjects as discovered by Hardt and Kamiya [10] .…”

“…Traditionally, stress management programmes are based upon relaxation training, and full relaxation training was seen as a form of stress management [9], because it helps individuals to deal with stress and tension. The classical relaxation methods aim to reduce the strain in the individual, which was seen to have accumulated in the course of time and exposures to stressors.…”

Selected Abstracts of Conference Presentations at the 2008 International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR) 16th Annual Conference, San Antonio, Texas

“…In addition, the SMR appeared when animals were trained to suppress a learned motor response. To test the possibility that the changes in motor regulation in both states were related, a study was carried out in which cats were trained to produce the SMR directly in an operant conditioning paradigm, and sleep EEG and structure were measured before and after this training (Sterman, Howe, & Macdonald, 1970). When compared to an alternate EEG training condition in a counterbalanced, crossover design, sleep spindle density was significantly increased and the duration of sleep periods prolonged only following the SMR training condition.…”