Abstract
Sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) slow waves (0.5–4 Hz) are considered the major hallmarks and functional constituents of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Since their first description by Alfred Lee Loomis in the 1930s these oscillatory electrophysiological phenomena were gradually becoming one of the major focuses of sleep scientists. Although they were first considered as pure signs of cerebral inactivity, empirical findings suggested their involvement in the maintenance of a homeostasis between wake-related cerebral activity and sleep-related rest, restauration of wake-related wear and tear (including detoxification, tissue restoration and immunological functions), maintaining synaptic homeostasis (reducing synaptic strengths and cortical firing rate) and consolidation of memory traces (hippocamapo-neocortical replay). The precise homeostatic regulation of sleep slow wave activity is one of the best characterized aspects of sleep. Spectral power, wave amplitude and occurrence, as well as frequency and slope are the sleep slow wave features which are homeostatically regulated, mainly reflecting local plastic processes. The dichotomy of the cortically generated slow oscillation.
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