The initial orienting response during human REM sleep as revealed by the N1 component of auditory event-related potentials

Abstract

The large N1 wave of the auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) typically occurring to the first stimulus after a long silent interval seems to be associated with the involuntary initial-orienting response. Since the mechanisms involved in the generation of this brain response are assumed to be activated automatically, the present study aims at determining whether this electrophysiological response can also be elicited during human REM sleep, the sleep stage considered most sensitive to external stimuli. To achieve this goal, the auditory N1 wave was analyzed in wakefulness and REM sleep for frequency deviant tones delivered in several positions (1, 2, 4 and 6) within homogenous stimulus trains separated by different intervals of silence (3, 6 and 9 s), the intra-train stimulus interval being 600 ms. A significant increment in the amplitude of the N1 component for the first deviant tone, as compared with deviants delivered in remaining positions, was observed in both brain states, independently of the inter-train interval length. This result cannot be explained by a release-from-refractoriness effect, since only one deviant was presented in each train and the inter-deviant interval hardly changed from one train to another. The increase in N1 to the first stimulus of the train, probably due to the contribution of the neuronal elements responsible for the supratemporal and non-specific components, may be explained by changes in the silent interval, rather than by variations in the stimulus frequency. The enhanced N1 could be reflecting a general increase in sensory sensitivity associated with the arousal factor of the orienting response. These findings suggest that the brain maintains the potential ability to trigger the brain events responsible for the OR elicitation, even during REM sleep.