Increased slow wave activity in response to sleep deprivation is highest immediately after micro-arousals

Hauglund, N. L.; Krone, L. B.; Kahn, M.; Blanco-Duque, C.; Vyazovskiy, V. V.

doi:10.1101/2025.01.29.635246

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.01.29.635246

Increased slow wave activity in response to sleep deprivation is highest immediately after micro-arousals

Hauglund, N. L.·Krone, L. B.·Kahn, M.·Blanco-Duque, C.·Vyazovskiy, V. V.

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Abstract

Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep is not uniform but characterized by brief intrusions of wake-like brain activity, known as micro-arousals or brief awakenings. Although micro-arousals are an inherent feature of both human and animal sleep, knowledge about the neural correlates of micro-arousals across the cortical column is sparse. We here developed an algorithm for automatic detection of micro-arousals based on EMG activity and used it to explore how micro-arousals modulate laminar neural activity in the motor cortex, and how this relationship is affected by sleep pressure in mice. Our analysis showed that micro-arousals were associated with a general suppression of local field potential (LFP) power across the cortical column. Slow wave activity (SWA, 1-4 Hz) immediately after micro-arousals was tightly correlated with sleep pressure and even surpassed average SWA levels during NREM sleep in sleep deprived animals. In addition, analysis of single-channel firing showed that some channels exhibited increased activity immediately prior to micro-arousals, while others exhibited decreased activity. This study provides new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying micro-arousals and identifies a new link between micro-arousals and sleep homeostasis.

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Hauglund, N. L., Krone, L. B., Kahn, M., Blanco-Duque, C., Vyazovskiy, V. V.. 2025-01-29. Increased slow wave activity in response to sleep deprivation is highest immediately after micro-arousals. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.29.635246

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