Infra-slow Oscillations During Sleep
Condition: Healthy Subjects; Restless Legs Syndrome; Periodic Limb Movements During Sleep
MeSH terms: Psychomotor Agitation; Restless Legs Syndrome; Syndrome
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      In this study the investigators plan to systematically characterise infra-slow EEG
      oscillations during sleep, explore their relationship to the microstructure of sleep, and
      investigate its role in the physiology and pathophysiology of sleep by co-registration of
      Full band EEG with polysomnography during wake and sleep in healthy subjects, after sleep
      deprivation, and in patients with restless legs syndrome/periodic leg movements during sleep
      (RLS/PLMS).
    

Detailed description: 
      Sleep is a highly dynamic process and during large parts of sleep the level of arousal
      fluctuates on a multi-second time scale between the sleep stage specific background and
      transient, phasic events that clearly arise from this background and constitute the
      microstructure of sleep. This microstructure is part of the dynamic physiological sleep
      regulation and at the same time reflects the instability of sleep, is critically involved in
      the pathophysiology of sleep and a determinant of the recuperative value of sleep and daytime
      performance.

      Intriguingly, these sleep microstructural fluctuations are in a multi-second range that
      corresponds closely to the so-called infra-slow oscillations that are ubiquitous in the
      central nervous system. Infra-slow oscillations (0.01 - 0.1 Hz) have been observed in both
      humans and animals across brain structures and spatial scales in the dynamics of single unit
      firing rates, direct electrical potential fluctuations and oscillation amplitude modulations.
      The possibility to record these infra-slow oscillations on the level of the surface EEG with
      direct current (DC) or Full band (Fb) EEG offers a new approach to study the microstructure
      of sleep and characterise the full range of sleep-related EEG oscillations.

      The objectives of this study are:

        1. to record and systematically characterise infra-slow oscillations during wake and all
           stages of sleep

        2. to explore the relationship between sleep infra-slow oscillations and microstructural
           events of sleep, in particular the cyclic alternating pattern

        3. to explore the effect of acute sleep deprivation on sleep infra-slow EEG activity

        4. to investigate infra-slow sleep EEG activity in patients with RLS/PLMS, common sleep
           disorders with prominent periodic arousals, heart rate activations, and leg movements

        5. to explore the relationship between infra-slow EEG oscillations and periodic events in
           movement and autonomic system activity in patients with RLS/PLMS.
    

Intervention name(s): Acute sleep deprivation
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Participants will stay awake for 36 hours
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Basic Science