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Non-REM sleep refers to the stages of sleep in which there is little or no random eye movements (REM), that is, stages 1–3 of sleep. During these phases, muscle tone is retained and dreaming is rare; stage 3, the deepest sleep stage, has been associated with memory consolidation.
Simultaneous EEG-fMRI shows that slow wave-coupled sleep spindles promote region-specific memory reactivation after motor learning, revealing distinct roles for coupled vs. uncoupled spindles in sleep-dependent memory consolidation.
The role of the human claustrum during slow wave sleep is unknown. Here the authors characterize the spiking activity of claustrum neurons in humans and demonstrate that claustrum neurons track slow waves during NREM sleep.
An EEG study shows that cardiac signals support auditory regularity encoding in sleep and wakefulness. This highlights a mechanism optimizing unexpected stimulus detection based on the temporal cue provided by continuously monitored cardiac inputs.
Sleep helps to stabilize long-term memories, possibly through the temporal synchronization of neuronal activity in different brain regions. Intracranial stimulation during sleep using prefrontal electric pulses, precisely timed with slow-wave activities in the medial temporal lobe, enhanced the coupling of neuronal oscillations across regions of the human brain and improved memory performance.
The ability to be woken from deep sleep by a sound (such as an alarm) is shown to be mediated by a specialized glutamatergic brainstem–mediodorsal thalamic pathway.
Barosensitive neurons in the medullary nucleus of the solitary tract can decrease wakefulness and increase non-REM sleep in mice through the same circuitry that regulates cardiovascular function.
