Acoustic stimulation of Slow wave sleep and its influence on consolidation of declarative memory in insomnia

Slow-wave sleep plays an important role in consolidation of declarative memory. From electrophysiological point of view, this process is dependent on a common occurrence and mutual integration of neocortical slow oscillations (< 1 Hz), hippocampal sharp-wave ripples (150-250 Hz) and thalamo-cortical sleep spindles (10-15 Hz). Previous studies demonstrated that periodic acoustic stimulation by pink noise pulses applied at frequency of sleep slow oscillation during slow wave sleep leads to prolongation of slow wave sleep and to enhancement in declarative memory performance in normal sleepers. Our study investigated this kind of periodic acoustic stimulation in its relation to sleep architecture and declarative memory of people suffering from insomnia due to which there often comes to a reduction in slow wave sleep which positively correlates with worsening of declarative memory performance. Our aim was to investigate if this kind of comparatively non-invasive brain stimulation has a potential to increase a total length of slow wave sleep and enhance declarative memory performance in insomnia. Our study revealed acoustic stimulation neither improved declarative memory performance nor it increased total length of slow-wave sleep. No positive association was found between level of declarative memory..

Akustická stimulácia pomalovlnného spánku a jej vplyv na konsolidáciu pamäti u ľudí trpiacich nespavosťou

Pomalovlnní spánek hraje důležitou roli v konsolidaci deklarativní paměti. Z elektrofyziologického hlediska je tento paměťový proces závislý na přítomnosti a vzájemné interakci neokortikálních spánkových pomalých oscilací (&lt; 1Hz), hipokampálních sharp-wave ripples (150-250 Hz) a talamokortikálních spánkových vřetýnkách (10-15 Hz) Předchozí výzkum dokázal, že periodická akustická stimulace růžovým šumem aplikovaná ve frekvenčním pásmu pomalých oscilací během pomalovlnného spánku, dokáže zvýšit kvalitu a celkovou délku pomalovlnného spánku a zlepšit deklarativní paměť u osob s dobrým spánkem. Naše studie se zabývala vlivem této stimulace na spánek lidí trpících nespavostí u kterých často dochází k redukci pomalovlního spánku co pozitivně koreluje se zhoršením výkonu deklarativní paměti. Naším cílem bylo zjistit, jestli tahle poměrně neinvazivní metoda mozkové stimulace dokáže zvýšit celkovou délku pomalovlnného spánku a zlepšit deklarativní paměť u nespavosti. Zjistili jsme, že akustická stimulace nezvýšila celkovou délku spánku a nezlepšila po-spánkový výkon deklarativní paměti. Mezi výkonem deklarativní paměti a celkovou délkou pomalovlnného spánku jsme nenašli pozitivní asociaci, avšak silnou pozitivní asociaci jsme našli mezi po-spánkovým výkonem deklarativní paměti a celkovou délkou REM spánku...Slow-wave sleep plays an important role in consolidation of declarative memory. From electrophysiological point of view, this process is dependent on a common occurrence and mutual integration of neocortical slow oscillations (&lt; 1 Hz), hippocampal sharp-wave ripples (150-250 Hz) and thalamo-cortical sleep spindles (10-15 Hz). Previous studies demonstrated that periodic acoustic stimulation by pink noise pulses applied at frequency of sleep slow oscillation during slow wave sleep leads to prolongation of slow wave sleep and to enhancement in declarative memory performance in normal sleepers. Our study investigated this kind of periodic acoustic stimulation in its relation to sleep architecture and declarative memory of people suffering from insomnia due to which there often comes to a reduction in slow wave sleep which positively correlates with worsening of declarative memory performance. Our aim was to investigate if this kind of comparatively non-invasive brain stimulation has a potential to increase a total length of slow wave sleep and enhance declarative memory performance in insomnia. Our study revealed acoustic stimulation neither improved declarative memory performance nor it increased total length of slow-wave sleep. No positive association was found between level of declarative memory...Katedra fyziologieDepartment of PhysiologyPřírodovědecká fakultaFaculty of Scienc

Acoustic stimulation of Slow wave sleep and its influence on consolidation of declarative memory in insomnia

Slow-wave sleep plays an important role in consolidation of declarative memory. From electrophysiological point of view, this process is dependent on a common occurrence and mutual integration of neocortical slow oscillations (< 1 Hz), hippocampal sharp-wave ripples (150-250 Hz) and thalamo-cortical sleep spindles (10-15 Hz). Previous studies demonstrated that periodic acoustic stimulation by pink noise pulses applied at frequency of sleep slow oscillation during slow wave sleep leads to prolongation of slow wave sleep and to enhancement in declarative memory performance in normal sleepers. Our study investigated this kind of periodic acoustic stimulation in its relation to sleep architecture and declarative memory of people suffering from insomnia due to which there often comes to a reduction in slow wave sleep which positively correlates with worsening of declarative memory performance. Our aim was to investigate if this kind of comparatively non-invasive brain stimulation has a potential to increase a total length of slow wave sleep and enhance declarative memory performance in insomnia. Our study revealed acoustic stimulation neither improved declarative memory performance nor it increased total length of slow-wave sleep. No positive association was found between level of declarative memory..

Effects of vaccination, new SARS-CoV-2 variants and reinfections on post-COVID-19 complications

Post-COVID-19 complications involve a variety of long-lasting health complications emerging in various body systems. Since the prevalence of post-COVID-19 complications ranges from 8–47% in COVID-19 survivors, it represents a formidable challenge to COVID-19 survivors and the health care system. Post-COVID-19 complications have already been studied in the connection to risk factors linked to their higher probability of occurrence and higher severity, potential mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of post-COVID-19 complications, and their functional and structural correlates. Vaccination status has been recently revealed to represent efficient prevention from long-term and severe post-COVID-19 complications. However, the exact mechanisms responsible for vaccine-induced protection against severe and long-lasting post-COVID-19 complications remain elusive. Also, to the best of our knowledge, the effects of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and SARS-CoV-2 reinfections on post-COVID-19 complications and their underlying pathogenesis remain to be investigated. This hypothesis article will be dedicated to the potential effects of vaccination status, SARS-CoV-2 reinfections, and new SARS-CoV-2 variants on post-COVID-19 complications and their underlying mechanisms Also, potential prevention strategies against post-COVID complications will be discussed

Closed‐loop auditory stimulation of slow‐wave sleep in chronic insomnia: a pilot study

Insomnia is a prevalent and disabling condition whose treatment is not always effective. This pilot study explores the feasibility and effects of closed-loop auditory stimulation (CLAS) as a potential non-invasive intervention to improve sleep, its subjective quality, and memory consolidation in patients with insomnia. A total of 27 patients with chronic insomnia underwent a crossover, sham-controlled study with 2 nights of either CLAS or sham stimulation. Polysomnography was used to record sleep parameters, while questionnaires and a word-pair memory task were administered to assess subjective sleep quality and memory consolidation. The initial analyses included 17 patients who completed the study, met the inclusion criteria, and received CLAS. From those, 10 (58%) received only a small number of stimuli. In the remaining seven (41%) patients with sufficient CLAS, we evaluated the acute and whole-night effect on sleep. CLAS led to a significant immediate increase in slow oscillation (0.5–1 Hz) amplitude and activity, and reduced delta (1–4 Hz) and sigma/sleep spindle (12–15 Hz) activity during slow-wave sleep across the whole night. All these fundamental sleep rhythms are implicated in sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Yet, CLAS did not change sleep-dependent memory consolidation or sleep macrostructure characteristics, number of arousals, or subjective perception of sleep quality. Results showed CLAS to be feasible in patients with insomnia. However, a high variance in the efficacy of our automated stimulation approach suggests that further research is needed to optimise stimulation protocols to better unlock potential CLAS benefits for sleep structure and subjective sleep quality in such clinical settings