Circadian regulation of human cortical excitability

peer reviewe

Neuronal excitation/inhibition balance is set by the need for sleep and the biological clock

peer reviewe

Circadian dynamics in measures of cortical excitation and inhibition balance

Several neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders have recently been characterized as dysfunctions arising from a ‘final common pathway’ of imbalanced excitation to inhibition within cortical networks. How the regulation of a cortical E/I ratio is affected by sleep and the circadian rhythm however, remains to be established. Here we addressed this issue through the analyses of TMS-evoked responses recorded over a 29h sleep deprivation protocol conducted in young and healthy volunteers. Spectral analyses of TMS-evoked responses in frontal cortex revealed non-linear changes in gamma band evoked oscillations, compatible with an influence of circadian timing on inhibitory interneuron activity. In silico inferences of cell-to-cell excitatory and inhibitory connectivity and GABA/Glutamate receptor time constant based on neural mass modeling within the Dynamic causal modeling framework, further suggested excitation/inhibition balance was under a strong circadian influence. These results indicate that circadian changes in EEG spectral properties, in measure of excitatory/inhibitory connectivity and in GABA/glutamate receptor function could support the maintenance of cognitive performance during a normal waking day, but also during overnight wakefulness. More generally, these findings demonstrate a slow daily regulation of cortical excitation/inhibition balance, which depends on circadian-timing and prior sleep-wake history

L'excitibalité corticale humaine dépend du temps passé éveillé et de la phase circadienne

At any point in time, human performance results from the interaction of two main factors: a circadian signal varying with the time of the day and the sleep need accrued throughout the preceding waking period. But what’s happen at the cortical cerebral level? We used a novel technique coupling transcranial magnetic stimulation with electroencephalography (TMS/EEG) to assess the influence of time spent awake and circadian phasis on human cortical excitability. Twenty-two healthy young men underwent 8 TMS/EEG sessions during a 28 hour sleep deprivation protocole. We found that cortical excitability depends on both time spent awake and circadian phasis

Human cortical excitability depends on time spent awake and circadian phase

At any point in time, human performance results from the interaction of two main factors: a circadian signal varying with the time of the day and the sleep need accrued throughout the preceding waking period. But what’s happen at the cortical cerebral level? We used a novel technique coupling transcranial magnetic stimulation with electroencephalography (TMS/EEG) to assess the influence of time spent awake and circadian phasis on human cortical excitability. Twenty-two healthy young men underwent 8 TMS/EEG sessions during a 28 hour sleep deprivation protocole. We found that cortical excitability depends on both time spent awake and circadian phasis