Hello,
I would like to ask if do you think that changes in sleep spindle activity might be followed by cognitive disturbances in general?
I know that increased spindle activity is connected with improvements in procedural and declarative memory, that occurrence of sleep spindles might be an outcome marker for patients in coma or following traumatic brain injuries. Nevertheless, I was thinking if is it reasonable to associate sleep spindles activity with cognitive performance in general.
Could you tell me if do you think that sleep spindles might influence cognitive performance apart from memory consolidation, please?
I really appreciate any help you can provide.
Kind regards,
Adriana
Dear Adriana! There are various and sometimes conflicting opinions on the subject. Please read manuscripts in the annex to my letter.
Vladimir
Dear Adriana! There are various and sometimes conflicting opinions on the subject. Please read manuscripts in the annex to my letter.
Vladimir
Hi Adriana,
Your questions are very interesting. I think it is important to take into account that there are at least three different types of sleep spindles, based on their frequency and fields' potential. The most commonly seen in adults are those of appr 14Hz, observed in C3 and C4 fields; seen in N2 and N3 sleep stages. Very similar spindles are observed in "coma sleep", also they are frequently intermixed with vertex waves and widespread delta activity.
Spindles with frequencies 10-12 Hz in more frontal fields, particularly if continuously “spindling” (more than 3 sec in duration), are frequently observed in children with cognitive impairments and/or some types of cerebral palsy. Also, certain drugs (morphine, etc.) can produce continuous "spindling" observed mostly in the frontal fields; however, they are usually 10 Hz in frequency. Power spectral analysis, characterising spindles in frequency bands can be helpful clinically.
With regards to your direct question, please refer to a review on spindles as an index of individual intelligence and learning ability:
Fogel SM, Smith CT. The function of sleep spindle: A physiological index of intelligence and a mechanism for sleep dependent memory consolidation. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2011; 35 (5):1154-65.
Kind regards,
Tatyana
Here is a new paper showing that spindles are related to dreaming with a review that you might find useful. To answer your question empirically, though, you would need to experimentally change the frequency of (fast or slow) spindles and note the effects on cognitive performance. There are labs starting to do this kind of work.
Hi Adriana,
My answer is Yes. Below is the link to my recent article where I argue that any quality of the sleep is influenced by cognitive disturbances, in particular a kind of Egogeny, the self-injuring influence onto the psyche, at that up to full sleep deprivation.
http://www.science-sd.com/468-25114
I'm curious; are you asking about this with the goal of improving general cognitive performance through thalamus interventions in otherwise healthy brains?
Dear David! Adrian asks whether there is a relationship between the characteristics of the electrical activity of the brain during sleep and manifestations of disorders of cognitive functions.
Dear All,
I would like to thank you for all the answers and attachments. I am more than grateful for your help.
Mr David Kyle, do you mean in the animal model, right?
Mr Tore A Nielsen, could you give me a title to the publication, that you mentioned, please?
Kind regards,
Adriana
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