Sleep EEG as a Tool for Exploring Mechanisms of Schizophrenia

Abstract

Despite the extensive neuroimaging research investigating the neurodevelopmental mechanisms of schizophrenia, to date we have a limited understanding about how schizophrenia develops. Feinberg’s (1982) popular neurodevelopmental model proposes that excessive synaptic pruning during adolescence as indexed by the loss of delta brain-wave activity (EEG) in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep may underlie the pathophysiology to schizophrenia. Several studies have shown that the amplitude and incidence of delta wave EEG are disrupted in stage 3 sleep in schizophrenia. However, little research has investigated sleep EEG in adolescents who are at high risk for transitioning into psychosis. The current paper reviews recent longitudinal findings documenting the normal rate of delta EEG changes over the childhood and adolescent periods and proposes a sleep EEG study that can help inform how schizophrenia develops in adolescence.