Slow waves, synaptic plasticity and information processing: insights from transcranial magnetic stimulation and high-density EEG experiments.
Marcello Massimini, Giulio Tononi, R Huber
European Journal of Neuroscience April 27, 2009 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06720.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) |
| Measures | Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), high-density (hd) EEG |
| Topics | Neuroplasticity |
| Keywords | Thalamus Cerebral cortex Neural pathways Synapses Animals Humans Electroencephalography Consciousness Sleep Periodicity Neuronal plasticity Long-term potentiation Transcranial magnetic stimulation |
| Key findings | The authors report that TMS with high-density EEG experiments demonstrate a causal link between cortical plastic changes and sleep slow waves, and a causal link between slow waves and decreased thalamocortical information integration and conscious experience during NREM sleep. They propose a unifying mechanism linking slow waves, plasticity, and cortical information integration, and suggest TMS can controllably induce slow waves nonpharmacologically. |
Abstract
Sleep slow waves are the main phenomenon underlying NREM sleep. They are homeostatically regulated, they are thought to be linked to learning and plasticity processes and, at the same time, they are associated with marked changes in cortical information processing. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and high-density (hd) EEG we can measure slow waves, induce and measure plastic changes in the cerebral cortex and directly assess corticocortical information transmission. In this manuscript we review the results of recent experiments in which TMS with hd-EEG is used to demonstrate (i) a causal link between cortical plastic changes and sleep slow waves and (ii) a causal link between slow waves and the decreased ability of thalamocortical circuits to integrate information and to generate conscious experience during NREM sleep. The data presented here suggest a unifying mechanism linking slow waves, plasticity and cortical information integration; moreover, they suggest that TMS can be used as a nonpharmacological means to controllably induce slow waves in the human cerebral cortex.
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Citations in the library
Cited by 11
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- Quantifying arousal and awareness in altered states of consciousness using interpretable deep learning Nature Communications February 25, 2022
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- Circuit-level dynamics and propagation of slow wave activity modulate their interplay during the awakening process. iScience December 19, 2025
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