bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 20, 2026
Atakan Selte, Steven E. Haworth, Thomas J. Vanasse et al.
preprint
Abstract Identifying neural signatures of consciousness remains a central challenge in neuroscience. Sleep offers a tractable model for comparing brain activity in the presence or absence of subjective experience while minimizing behavioral responsiveness confounds. Using overnight 256-electrode high-density EEG in 140 participants and a serial-awakening paradigm, we analyzed 699 non-rapid eye...
Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
June 16, 2026
Nadia S. Hejazi, Mina Kheirkhah, Brady A. Riedner et al.
Slow-wave activity (SWA), a key indicator of sleep homeostasis, is often diminished in individuals with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Ketamine, a rapid-acting antidepressant, increases SWA during the first period of non-rapid eye movement (NREM1) sleep. However, research into how ketamine affects sleep and its connection to treatment outcomes in TRD has been limited by small sample...
Translational Psychiatry
February 14, 2026
Michael H Sutherland, Christopher R. Nicholas, Richard C Lennertz et al.
The serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin induces neural plasticity and profoundly alters consciousness. The benzodiazepine midazolam blunts neural plasticity and induces conscious sedation and amnesia at low doses. In our recent open label pilot study, we administered oral psilocybin (25 mg) along with intravenous midazolam at doses allowing a full psychedelic experience while blunting memory...
Translational Psychiatry
September 12, 2024
Christopher R. Nicholas, Matthew I Banks, Richard C Lennertz et al.
10 citations
Aspects of the acute experience induced by the serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin predict symptomatic relief in multiple psychiatric disorders and improved well-being in healthy participants, but whether these therapeutic effects are immediate or are based on memories of the experience is unclear. To examine this, we co-administered psilocybin (25 mg) with the amnestic benzodiazepine midazolam...
Consciousness and Cognition
2022
Benjamin Baird, Mariel Kalkach Aparicio, Tariq Alauddin et al.
17 citations
Evidence suggests continuity between cognition in waking and sleeping states. However, one type of cognition that may differ is episodic thoughts of the past and future. The current study investigated this across waking, NREM sleep and REM sleep. We analyzed thought reports obtained from a large sample of individuals (N = 138) who underwent experience-sampling during wakefulness as well as...
Psychology of consciousness (Washington, D.C.)
March 1, 2019
Benjamin Baird, Brady A. Riedner, Melanie Boly et al.
41 citations
Strong conceptual and theoretical connections have been made between meditation practice, mindfulness and lucid dreaming. However, only a handful of empirical studies have evaluated the relationship between lucid dreaming and meditation, and conclusions remain tempered by methodological limitations. Here we evaluate the relationship between meditation, mindfulness and lucid dream frequency...
Scientific Reports
November 5, 2018
Matthieu Darracq, Chadd M. Funk, Daniel Polyakov et al.
49 citations
Sleep and anesthesia entail alterations in conscious experience. Conscious experience may be absent (unconsciousness) or take the form of dreaming, a state in which sensory stimuli are not incorporated into conscious experience (disconnected consciousness). Recent work has identified features of cortical activity that distinguish conscious from unconscious states; however, less is known about...
European Journal of Neuroscience
August 24, 2018
Daniela Dentico, David R. W. Bachhuber, Brady A. Riedner et al.
18 citations
Our recent finding of a meditation-related increase in low-frequency NREM sleep EEG oscillatory activities peaking in the theta-alpha range (4-12 Hz) was not predicted. From a consolidated body of research on sleep homeostasis, we would expect a change peaking in slow wave activity (1-4 Hz) following an intense meditation session. Here we compared these changes in sleep with the post-meditation...
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
May 31, 2017
Lampros Perogamvros, Benjamin Baird, Mitja Seibold et al.
76 citations
Thoughts occur during wake as well as during dreaming sleep. Using experience sampling combined with high-density EEG, we investigated the phenomenal qualities and neural correlates of spontaneously occurring thoughts across wakefulness, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and REM sleep. Across all states, thoughts were associated with activation of a region of the midcingulate cortex....
PLoS One
February 22, 2016
Daniela Dentico, Fabio Ferrarelli, Brady A. Riedner et al.
43 citations
STUDY OBJECTIVES: We have recently shown higher parietal-occipital EEG gamma activity during sleep in long-term meditators compared to meditation-naive individuals. This gamma increase was specific for NREM sleep, was present throughout the entire night and correlated with meditation expertise, thus suggesting underlying long-lasting neuroplastic changes induced through prolonged training. The...
PLoS One
August 28, 2013
Fabio Ferrarelli, Richard Smith, Daniela Dentico et al.
125 citations
Over the past several years meditation practice has gained increasing attention as a non-pharmacological intervention to provide health related benefits, from promoting general wellness to alleviating the symptoms of a variety of medical conditions. However, the effects of meditation training on brain activity still need to be fully characterized. Sleep provides a unique approach to explore the...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
June 7, 2012
Wallace C. Duncan, Simone Sarasso, Fabio Ferrarelli et al.
253 citations
The N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine has rapid antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (MDD). In rats, ketamine selectively increased electroencephalogram (EEG) slow wave activity (SWA) during non-rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and altered central brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression. Taken together, these findings suggest...
Cognitive Neuroscience
July 1, 2010
Marcello Massimini, Fabio Ferrarelli, Michael J. Murphy et al.
205 citations
We recorded the electroencephalographic (EEG) responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) during the first rapid eye movement (REM) sleep episode of the night and we compared them with the responses obtained during previous wakefulness and NREM sleep. Confirming previous findings, upon falling into NREM sleep, cortical activations became more local and stereotypical, indicating...