10 research outputs found
Local slow wave activity in regular sleep reveals individual risk preferences
In many everyday life situations, we have to make decisions under varying degrees
of risk. Even though previous research has shown that the manipulation of sleep affects risky decision-making, it yet remains to be understood how regular, healthy sleep relates to risk preferences. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between individual, temporally stable neural sleep characteristics and individual differences in risk preferences in healthy adults. Sleep data were collected using a portable high-density EEG system at participants’ home. Results revealed a significant negative correlation between local sleep depth, as reflected in slow-wave activity (SWA) in a cluster of 5 electrodes located over the right prefrontal cortex and risk-taking behavior. This finding remained significant when controlling for total sleep time. Moreover, the association between SWA over the right prefrontal cortex and risk preferences was very similar in all sleep cycles. Our findings suggest that sleep depth in the right prefrontal cortex, an area involved in self-regulation, might serve as a dispositional indicator of lower self-regulatory abilities, which is expressed in greater risk-taking behavior
Local slow-wave activity over the right prefrontal cortex reveals individual risk preferences.
In everyday life, we have to make decisions under varying degrees of risk. Even though previous research has shown that the manipulation of sleep affects risky decision-making, it remains unknown whether individual, temporally stable neural sleep characteristics relate to individual differences in risk preferences. Here, we collected sleep data under normal conditions in fifty-four healthy adults using a portable high-density EEG at participants' home. Whole-brain corrected for multiple testing, we found that lower slow-wave activity (SWA, an indicator of sleep depth) in a cluster of electrodes over the right prefrontal cortex is associated with higher individual risk propensity. Importantly, the association between local sleep depth and risk preferences remained significant when controlling for total sleep time and for time spent in deep sleep, i.e., sleep stages N2 and N3. Moreover, the association between risk preferences and SWA over the right prefrontal cortex was very similar in all sleep cycles. Because the right prefrontal cortex plays a central role in cognitive control functions, we speculate that local sleep depth in this area, as reflected by SWA, might serve as a dispositional indicator of self-regulatory ability, which in turn reflects risk preferences
Human prosocial preferences are related to slow-wave activity in sleep
Prosocial behavior is crucial for the smooth functioning of society. Yet, individuals differ vastly in the propensity to behave prosocially. Here we try to explain these individual differences under normal sleep conditions without any experimental modulation of sleep. Using a portable high-density EEG we measured sleep data in 54 healthy adults (28 females) during a normal night's sleep at participants’ homes. To capture prosocial preferences, participants played an incentivised public goods game in which they faced real monetary consequences. Whole-brain analyses showed that higher relative slow-wave activity (SWA, an indicator of sleep depth) in a cluster of electrodes over the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) was associated with increased prosocial preferences. Source localization and CSD analyses further support these findings. Recent sleep deprivation studies imply that sleeping enough makes us more prosocial; the present findings suggest that it is not only sleep duration, but particularly sufficient sleep depth in the TPJ that is positively related to prosociality. Because the TPJ plays a central role in social cognitive functions, we speculate that sleep depth in the TPJ, as reflected by relative SWA, might serve as a dispositional indicator of social cognition ability, which is reflected in prosocial preferences. These findings contribute to the emerging framework explaining the link between sleep and prosocial behavior by shedding light on the underlying mechanisms.
Significance Statement
Sleep deprivation reportedly hampers prosocial behavior. Yet, sleep loss is not a regular occurrence. We studied participants without experimentally manipulating their sleep and conducted polysomnography along with a prosocial economic task. We found that higher relative slow-wave activity (an indicator of sleep depth) in the right TPJ – a brain region involved in social cognition – is associated with increased prosociality. This demonstrates a novel link between deep sleep neural markers and prosocial preferences. Furthermore, our study provides evidence about a possible neural mechanism that underlies the behavioral findings of previous studies on sleep deprivation and prosocial behavior. Our findings highlight the significance of sleep quality in shaping prosociality and the potential benefits of interventions targeting sleep quality to promote social capital
Human prosocial preferences are related to slow-wave activity in sleep.
Prosocial behavior is crucial for the smooth functioning of society. Yet, individuals differ vastly in the propensity to behave prosocially. Here we try to explain these individual differences under normal sleep conditions without any experimental modulation of sleep. Using a portable high-density EEG we measured sleep data in 54 healthy adults (28 females) during a normal night's sleep at participants' homes. To capture prosocial preferences, participants played an incentivised public goods game in which they faced real monetary consequences. Whole-brain analyses showed that higher relative slow-wave activity (SWA, an indicator of sleep depth) in a cluster of electrodes over the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) was associated with increased prosocial preferences. Source localization and CSD analyses further support these findings. Recent sleep deprivation studies imply that sleeping enough makes us more prosocial; the present findings suggest that it is not only sleep duration, but particularly sufficient sleep depth in the TPJ that is positively related to prosociality. Because the TPJ plays a central role in social cognitive functions, we speculate that sleep depth in the TPJ, as reflected by relative SWA, might serve as a dispositional indicator of social cognition ability, which is reflected in prosocial preferences. These findings contribute to the emerging framework explaining the link between sleep and prosocial behavior by shedding light on the underlying mechanisms.Significance Statement Sleep deprivation reportedly hampers prosocial behavior. Yet, sleep loss is not a regular occurrence. We studied participants without experimentally manipulating their sleep and conducted polysomnography along with a prosocial economic task. We found that higher relative slow-wave activity (an indicator of sleep depth) in the right TPJ - a brain region involved in social cognition - is associated with increased prosociality. This demonstrates a novel link between deep sleep neural markers and prosocial preferences. Furthermore, our study provides evidence about a possible neural mechanism that underlies the behavioral findings of previous studies on sleep deprivation and prosocial behavior. Our findings highlight the significance of sleep quality in shaping prosociality and the potential benefits of interventions targeting sleep quality to promote social capital
Different Behavioral Types of Distributional Preferences Are Characterized by Distinct Neural Signatures
There are many situations where resources are distributed between two parties and where the deciding party has information about the initial distribution and can change its outcome, for example, the allocation of budget for funds or bonuses, where the deciding party might have self-interested motives. Although the neural underpinnings of distributional preferences of resources have been extensively studied, it remains unclear if there are different types of distributional preferences and if these types underlie different disposing neural signatures. We used source-localized resting EEG in combination with a data-driven clustering approach to participants' behavior in a distribution game in order to disentangle the neural sources of the different types of distributional preferences. Our findings revealed four behavioral types: Maximizing types always changed initial distributions to maximize their personal outcomes, and compliant types always left initial distributions unchanged. Disadvantage-averse types only changed initial distributions if they received less than the other party did, and equalizing types primarily changed initial distributions to fair distributions. These behavioral types differed regarding neural baseline activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus. Maximizing and compliant types showed the highest baseline activation, followed by disadvantage-averse types and equalizing types. Furthermore, maximizing types showed significantly higher baseline activation in the left OFC compared to compliant types. Taken together, our findings show that different types of distributional preferences are characterized by distinct neural signatures, which further imply differences in underlying psychological processes in decision-making
Wake EEG oscillation dynamics reflect both sleep need and brain maturation across childhood and adolescence.
An objective measure of brain maturation is highly insightful for monitoring both typical and atypical development. Slow wave activity, recorded in the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG), reliably indexes changes in brain plasticity with age, as well as deficits related to developmental disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Unfortunately, measuring sleep EEG is resource-intensive and burdensome for participants. We therefore aimed to determine whether wake EEG could likewise index developmental changes in brain plasticity. We analyzed high-density wake EEG collected from 163 participants 3-25 years old, before and after a night of sleep. We compared two measures of oscillatory EEG activity, amplitudes and density, as well as two measures of aperiodic activity, intercepts and slopes. Furthermore, we compared these measures in patients with ADHD (8-17 y.o., N=58) to neurotypical controls. We found that wake oscillation amplitudes behaved the same as sleep slow wave activity: amplitudes decreased with age, decreased after sleep, and this overnight decrease decreased with age. Oscillation densities were also substantially age-dependent, decreasing overnight in children and increasing overnight in adolescents and adults. While both aperiodic intercepts and slopes decreased linearly with age, intercepts decreased overnight, and slopes increased overnight. Overall, our results indicate that wake oscillation amplitudes track both development and sleep need, and overnight changes in oscillation density reflect some yet-unknown shift in neural activity around puberty. No wake measure showed significant effects of ADHD, thus indicating that wake EEG measures, while easier to record, are not as sensitive as those during sleep
Diurnal changes in human brain glutamate + glutamine levels in the course of development and their relationship to sleep
Sleep slow waves during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep play a crucial role in maintaining cortical plasticity, a process that is especially important in the developing brain. Children show a considerably larger overnight decrease in slow wave activity (SWA; the power in the EEG frequency band between 1 and 4.5 ​Hz during NREM sleep), which constitutes the primary electrophysiological marker for the restorative function of sleep. We previously demonstrated in adults that this marker correlates with the overnight reduction in cortical glutamate ​+ ​glutamine (GLX) levels assessed by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), proposing GLX as a promising biomarker for the interplay between cortical plasticity and SWA. Here, we used a multimodal imaging approach of combined MRS and high-density EEG in a cross-sectional cohort of 46 subjects from 8 to 24 years of age in order to examine age-related changes in GLX and its relation to SWA. Gray matter volume, GLX levels and SWA showed the expected age-dependent decrease. Unexpectedly, the overnight changes in GLX followed opposite directions when comparing children to adults. These age-related changes could neither be explained by the overnight decrease in SWA nor by circadian factors
Local slow wave activity in regular sleep reveals individual risk preferences
In many everyday life situations, we have to make decisions under varying degrees
of risk. Even though previous research has shown that the manipulation of sleep affects risky decision-making, it yet remains to be understood how regular, healthy sleep relates to risk preferences. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between individual, temporally stable neural sleep characteristics and individual differences in risk preferences in healthy adults. Sleep data were collected using a portable high-density EEG system at participants’ home. Results revealed a significant negative correlation between local sleep depth, as reflected in slow-wave activity (SWA) in a cluster of 5 electrodes located over the right prefrontal cortex and risk-taking behavior. This finding remained significant when controlling for total sleep time. Moreover, the association between SWA over the right prefrontal cortex and risk preferences was very similar in all sleep cycles. Our findings suggest that sleep depth in the right prefrontal cortex, an area involved in self-regulation, might serve as a dispositional indicator of lower self-regulatory abilities, which is expressed in greater risk-taking behavior
Local slow-wave activity in regular sleep is associated with individual risk preferences
Objectives/Introduction: Risky behaviours can have enormous health and economic consequences and the propensity to engage in risky decisions greatly differs between individuals. Previous research has shown that manipulation of sleep affects risky decision-making. However, it yet remains to be understood how individual temporally stable neural sleep characteristics in regular, healthy sleep relate to individual differences in risk preferences.
Methods: Using a portable high-density polysomnographic system we collected sleep electroencephalographic (EEG) data in 54 healthy young adults at participants’ home without experimenter’s supervision (21.11 ± 2.04 years, 42 females). Slow-wave activity (SWA; spectral power 0.8-4.6 Hz) was computed in sleep stages N2 and N3. Before statistical analysis, individual SWA distribution maps were normalized to the mean values across all electrodes to reduce confounds without regional specificity. Risk preferences were assessed using a newly developed task in the behavioral laboratory.
Results: Participants showed large inter-individual variability in risk preferences (mean 16.48, SD=9.7, range:0-40). Regression analyses revealed that lower local sleep depth, as reflected by SWA in a cluster of electrodes located over the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) is associated with higher individual risk preferences (rho(52) = -0.38, p = 0.004, R2 = 0.14, cluster based corrected for multiple testing). Importantly, controlling for total sleep time or time spent in deep sleep, i.e. stages N2 and N3 did not affect this result (rho(51) = -0.39, p = 0.004, R2= 0.15; rho(51) = −0.39, p = 0.004, R2 = 0.15). Moreover, the association between SWA over the right prefrontal cortex and risk preferences was evident across all sleep cycles.
Conclusion: Our findings show that local sleep depth in the right PFC has a significant impact on risk preferences. The right PFC is an area involved in cognitive control functions. Hence, we speculate that local sleep depth in the right PFC might serve as a dispositional indicator of impulse control ability, which is expressed in risk preferences.
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose. Funding: Typhaine Foundatio
Local slow-wave activity in regular sleep is associated with individual risk preferences
Objectives/Introduction: Risky behaviours can have enormous health and economic consequences and the propensity to engage in risky decisions greatly differs between individuals. Previous research has shown that manipulation of sleep affects risky decision-making. However, it yet remains to be understood how individual temporally stable neural sleep characteristics in regular, healthy sleep relate to individual differences in risk preferences.
Methods: Using a portable high-density polysomnographic system we collected sleep electroencephalographic (EEG) data in 54 healthy young adults at participants’ home without experimenter’s supervision (21.11 ± 2.04 years, 42 females). Slow-wave activity (SWA; spectral power 0.8-4.6 Hz) was computed in sleep stages N2 and N3. Before statistical analysis, individual SWA distribution maps were normalized to the mean values across all electrodes to reduce confounds without regional specificity. Risk preferences were assessed using a newly developed task in the behavioral laboratory.
Results: Participants showed large inter-individual variability in risk preferences (mean 16.48, SD=9.7, range:0-40). Regression analyses revealed that lower local sleep depth, as reflected by SWA in a cluster of electrodes located over the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) is associated with higher individual risk preferences (rho(52) = -0.38, p = 0.004, R2 = 0.14, cluster based corrected for multiple testing). Importantly, controlling for total sleep time or time spent in deep sleep, i.e. stages N2 and N3 did not affect this result (rho(51) = -0.39, p = 0.004, R2= 0.15; rho(51) = −0.39, p = 0.004, R2 = 0.15). Moreover, the association between SWA over the right prefrontal cortex and risk preferences was evident across all sleep cycles.
Conclusion: Our findings show that local sleep depth in the right PFC has a significant impact on risk preferences. The right PFC is an area involved in cognitive control functions. Hence, we speculate that local sleep depth in the right PFC might serve as a dispositional indicator of impulse control ability, which is expressed in risk preferences.
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose. Funding: Typhaine Foundatio