Individual Differences in White Matter Diffusion Affect Sleep Oscillations

Abstract

The characteristic oscillations of the sleeping brain, spindles and slow waves, show trait-like, within-subject stability and a remarkable interindividual variability that correlates with functionally relevant measures such as memory performance and intelligence. Yet, the mechanisms underlying these interindividual differences are largely unknown. Spindles and slow waves are affected by the recent history of learning and neuronal activation, indicating sensitivity to changes in synaptic strength and thus to the connectivity of the neuronal network. Because the structural backbone of this network is formed by white matter tracts, we hypothesized that individual differences in spindles and slow waves depend on the white matter microstructure across a distributed network. We recorded both diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images and whole-night, high-density electroencephalography and investigated whether individual differences in sleep spindle and slow wave parameters were associated with diffusion tensor imaging metrics; white matter fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity were quantified using tract-based spatial statistics. Individuals with higher spindle power had higher axial diffusivity in the forceps minor, the anterior corpus callosum, fascicles in the temporal lobe, and the tracts within and surrounding the thalamus. Individuals with a steeper rising slope of the slow wave had higher axial diffusivity in the temporal fascicle and frontally located white matter tracts (forceps minor, anterior corpus callosum). These results indicate that the profiles of sleep oscillations reflect not only the dynamics of the neuronal network at the synaptic level, but also the localized microstructural properties of its structural backbone, the white matter tracts.

Spatiotemporal characteristics of sleep spindles depend on cortical location

“…An intriguing explanation for the spatial variability in spindle frequency but not in these other characteristics might be related to the effect of natural resonance frequencies. These are thought to be dependent on the anatomical structure of the thalamocortical modules (Rosanova et al, 2009), in particular that of the white-matter tracts that have been shown to affect the characteristics of the sleep waves (Piantoni et al, 2013). …”

Sleep and Human Aging

“…In young adult humans and rodents, white matter integrity in fiber tracts that form cortico-thalamic loops is associated with the quantitative and qualitative expression of sleep spindles (Piantoni et al, 2013; Steriade et al, 1987). In agreement with these findings, preliminary human data indicate that age-related deterioration in white matter integrity within the body and splenium of the corpus callosum predicts the severity of impaired sleep spindle expression in older adults (Mander et al, 2016b).…”

Sleep and the single neuron: the role of global slow oscillations in individual cell rest

“…We argue that although most cells in the body can presumably undergo rest relatively independently, neurons must rest together, owing to their extensive interconnectivity 50 . Thus, the only strategy to provide rest for an individual neuron in the neocortex is to synchronously reduce activity of the entire network that directly or indirectly projects to that neuron.…”