Topographical EEG mapping in a case of recurrent sleep terrors

Sleep terrors are characterized by marked CNS arousal and typically occur during stage 3-4 sleep within the first NREM cycle. Studies of the EEG during sleep terrors suggest that delta power and synchrony in the EEG may be important physiological markers of sleep terror presence and intensity. An EEG mapping study was undertaken with a single participant who experienced three sleep terror episodes in the laboratory. A one-minute section of EEG was sampled immediately prior to the onset of each of the three sleep terrors. Similar EEG sections were taken from 10 healthy sex- and age-matched controls. The sleep tenors and control (normative) data were then compared topographically with z-scores (z-mapping). The z-maps indicated that all three sleep terrors contained more total and delta power in central and frontal areas than the control EEG sections. Moreover, relative delta power in these areas for the three sleep terrors was proportional to the subjective intensity of the episode. Although this pre-arousal EEG pattern may be related to ongoing slow-wave sleep mentation that may sometimes trigger sleep terror episodes, its functional significance remains an open question. The results demonstrate the utility of EEG mapping for the quantification of brain activation during sleep terror attacks and suggest that discrete activity profiles are identifiable for different types of dreaming-related arousal

Cognitive psychology · Electroencephalography · Psychiatry · Sleep (system call · Computer Science · EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces · Memory and Neural Mechanisms · Psychology · Sleep and Wakefulness Research