Abstract
Background: Poor sleep quality is a common complaint, affecting over one third of people in the United States. While sleep quality is thought to be related to slow-wave sleep (SWS), there has been little investigation to address whether modulating slow-wave oscillations (SWOs) that characterize SWS could impact sleep quality. Here we examined whether closed-loop transcranial alternating current stimulation (CL-tACS) applied during sleep impacts sleep quality and efficiency. Methods: CL-tACS was used in 21 participants delivered at the same frequency and in phase with endogenous SWOs during sleep. Sleep quality was assessed in the morning following either verum or sham control stimulation during sleep, with order counterbalanced within participants. Results: Higher sleep quality and efficiency were found after verum stimulation nights compared to control. The largest effects on sleep quality were found immediately following an adaptation night in the laboratory for which sleep quality was reduced. Conclusions: Applying CL-tACS at the same frequency and phase as endogenous SWOs may offer a novel method to improve subjective sleep quality after a night with poor quality sleep. CL-tACS might be helpful for increasing sleep quality and efficiency in otherwise healthy people, and in patients with clinical disorders that involve sleep deficits.
Highlights
According to a 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 35.2% of adults in the United States get fewer than 7 h of sleep per night [1]
The present results show that subjective sleep quality and sleep efficiency showed significant improvements associated with a closed-loop tACS intervention designed to match the phase and frequency of endogenous slow-wave oscillations (SWOs) in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep
This study shows promising results that closed-loop transcranial alternating current stimulation (CL-tACS) designed to match the phase and frequency of endogenous SWOs during sleep may improve sleep efficiency that night, as well as self-reports of sleep quality the day
Summary
According to a 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 35.2% of adults in the United States get fewer than 7 h of sleep per night [1]. Current treatments depend in part on detailed analysis of conditions for each patient, and involve pharmaceutical and/or behavioral therapies, including supplements such as tryptophan and melatonin [5], behavioral techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy [6], devices such as continuous positive airway pressure [7] and cranial nerve stimulation [6,8] and light-based interventions [9], among others While all of these have demonstrated some benefits for certain patient populations, none have been found to produce large and reliable benefits on sleep quality in the majority of people. Conclusions: Applying CL-tACS at the same frequency and phase as endogenous SWOs may offer a novel method to improve subjective sleep quality after a night with poor quality sleep. CL-tACS might be helpful for increasing sleep quality and efficiency in otherwise healthy people, and in patients with clinical disorders that involve sleep deficits
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