Biology subjects

Da Poian, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Da Poian, G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Application of Down-Phase Targeted Auditory Stimulation During Sleep in a Home Setting: A Feasibility Study Across Seven Consecutive Nights

IntroductionSleep deprivation, also known as "wake therapy", has long been recognized as a powerful antidepressant. Phase-targeted auditory stimulation (PTAS) has been suggested as an auspicious non-invasive nocturnal substitute for sleep deprivation. Down-PTAS with stimuli presentation during the down-phase of slow waves, in particular, may have therapeutic potential to improve mood by selectively reducing slow-wave activity (SWA). With down-PTAS being more nuanced than sleep deprivation, its effects presumably develop over multiple nights, thus necessitating transfer from sleep laboratory to home settings. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the technical feasibility, tolerability, and potential risks associated with a wearable device employed for down-PTAS in an unsupervised home setting. MethodsWe recorded frontal EEG using the MHSL Sleepband Version 3 (MHSL-SB) in five healthy participants (23.8 {+/-} 0.8 years, three women) over seven consecutive nights with (STIM) and without (SHAM) tone application at their homes. Tones were delivered shortly before the negative peak of slow waves during N2/N3 sleep, using alternating 10-s ON-OFF windows. Sleep staging followed American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) guidelines. Of the 67 available sleep recordings, we excluded three due to parameter adjustments and another six for technical issues, leaving 58 sleep recordings (29 SHAM, 29 STIM) for further analyses. Low SWA (0.5-2 Hz, lSWA) was computed across the entire night, ON-OFF windows, and sleep cycles. Time-frequency analyses were performed time-locked to stimulus onset. We computed linear mixed effect models with condition (STIM vs. SHAM) as a fixed effect and random participant intercepts. ResultsData quality was sufficient for analyses in 87% of the available sleep recordings, with an average of over 1500 correctly delivered stimuli per recording. Down-PTAS did not affect sleep architecture, but it reduced lSWA primarily during the first sleep cycle when sleep pressure and lSWA were highest, and particularly in OFF windows. Additionally, stimulation elicited a K-complex-like auditory evoked response, aligning with previous laboratory findings. ConclusionOur results demonstrate the successful implementation of down-PTAS in a home setting, confirming its feasibility for long-term, unsupervised use. The K-complex-like auditory evoked response may mask potential reductions in lSWA during ON windows, posing a scientific analytical challenge. Taken together, future clinical research should now assess the effects of down-PTAS in depressed patients, in whom reducing lSWA may partly mimic sleep deprivation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Local modulation of sleep slow waves depends on timing between auditory stimuli

Conflicting evidence exists regarding the role of the targeted slow-wave phase in determining the direction and spatial specificity of slow-wave activity (SWA) modulation via phase-targeted auditory stimulation (PTAS) during sleep. To reconcile these discrepancies, we re-analyzed high-density electroencephalography (hd-EEG) data from previous studies, focusing on SWA responses to auditory stimuli presented with varying inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs). Our analysis reveals that ISI is a primary determinant of PTAS-induced SWA modulation, exceeding the influence of targeted phase alone. Specifically, auditory stimulation with longer ISIs evoked a global increase in SWA, consistent with a stereotypical auditory-evoked K-complex (KC), independent of targeted phase. Conversely, longer stimulus trains with rapid successive stimulus presentation resulted in spatially localized, phase-dependent SWA modulation, with up-PTAS enhancing and down-PTAS reducing SWA locally around the targeted area. This distinction resolves inconsistencies in prior PTAS studies by demonstrating that phase alone in insufficient in predicting slow-wave responses. Rather, it was the ISI which determined whether PTAS resulted in a global, KC-mediated response or a local, phase-specific modulation of SWA. Consequently, our findings refine the mechanistic understanding of PTAS, suggesting that ISI regulates the engagement of distinct neural circuits and thereby potentially enables the targeted manipulation of specific slow-wave subtypes and their associated functions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Acoustically evoked K-complexes are sufficient to boost verbal memory consolidation during sleep

Over the past decade, phase-targeted auditory stimulation (PTAS), a neuromodulation approach which presents auditory stimuli locked to the ongoing phase of slow waves during sleep, has shown potential to enhance specific aspects of sleep functions. However, the complexity of PTAS responses complicates the establishment of causality between specific electroencephalographic events and observed benefits. Here, we used down-PTAS during sleep to specifically evoke the early, K-complex (KC)-like response following PTAS without leading to a sustained increase in slow-wave activity throughout the stimulation window. Over the course of two nights, one with down-PTAS, the other without, high-density electroencephalography (hd-EEG) was recorded from 14 young healthy adults. The early response exhibited striking similarities to evoked KCs and was associated with improved verbal memory consolidation via stimulus-evoked spindle events nested into the up-phase of ongoing 1 Hz waves in a central region. These findings suggest that the early, KC-like response is sufficient to boost memory, potentially by orchestrating aspects of the hippocampal-neocortical dialogue.

neuroscience↗