RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Functional Neuroanatomy of Human Slow Wave Sleep
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 2807
OP 2812
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-08-02807.1997
VO 17
IS 8
A1 Pierre Maquet
A1 Christian Degueldre
A1 Guy Delfiore
A1 Joël Aerts
A1 Jean-Marie Péters
A1 André Luxen
A1 Georges Franck
YR 1997
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/17/8/2807.abstract
AB The distribution of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was estimated during sleep and wakefulness by using H215O positron emission tomography (PET) and statistical parametric mapping. A group analysis on 11 good sleepers (8 with steady slow wave sleep, SWS) showed a significant negative correlation between the occurrence of SWS and rCBF in dorsal pons and mesencephalon, thalami, basal ganglia, basal forebrain/hypothalamus, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and, on the right side, in a region that follows the medial aspect of the temporal lobe. Given the known decrease in global cerebral blood flow levels during SWS, these negative correlations suggest that rCBF is decreased significantly more in these cerebral areas than in the rest of the brain.The marked rCBF decreases in the pons, mesencephalon, thalamic nuclei, and basal forebrain reflect their close implication in the generation of SWS rhythms. The influence of these rhythms on the telencephalon usually are thought to be global and homogeneous. In contrast, our results show that rCBF is decreased more in some cortical areas (especially in orbitofrontal cortex) than in the rest of the cortex. We hypothesize that cellular processes taking place during SWS might be modulated differently in these regions.Given the functions of the ventromedial frontal areas, we surmise that SWS might be particularly critical for the adaptation of behavior to environmental pressures. This hypothesis is supported indirectly by results of sleep deprivation experiments.