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. 2011 Mar 1;34(3):325-33.
doi: 10.1093/sleep/34.3.325.

Topographic differences in the adolescent maturation of the slow wave EEG during NREM sleep

Irwin Feinberg  1 , Evan de Bie, Nicole M Davis, Ian G Campbell
Affiliations

Topographic differences in the adolescent maturation of the slow wave EEG during NREM sleep

Irwin Feinberg et al. Sleep. .

Abstract

Study objectives: Our ongoing longitudinal study has shown that NREM delta (1-4 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) power measured at C3 and C4 decrease by more than 60% between ages 11 and 17 years. Here, we investigate the age trajectories of delta and theta power at frontal, central, and occipital electrodes.

Design: Baseline sleep EEG was recorded twice yearly for 6 years in 2 cohorts, spanning ages 9-18 years, with overlap at 12-15 years.

Setting: Sleep EEG was recorded in the subjects' homes with ambulatory recorders.

Participants: Sixty-seven subjects in 2 cohorts, one starting at age 9 (n = 30) and one at age 12 years (n = 37).

Measurements and results: Sleep EEG recorded from Fz, Cz, C3, C4, and O1 was referred to mastoids. Visual scoring and artifact elimination was followed by FFT power analysis. Delta and theta EEG power declined steeply across this age range. The maturational trajectories of delta power showed a "back to front" pattern, with O1 delta power declining earliest and Fz delta power declining latest. Theta EEG power did not show this topographic difference in the timing of its decline. Delta, and to a lesser extent, theta power became frontally dominant in early adolescence.

Conclusions: We maintain our interpretation that the adolescent decline in EEG power reflects a widespread brain reorganization driven by synaptic pruning. The late decline in frontally recorded delta power indicates that plasticity is maintained in these circuits until a later age. Although delta and theta have similar homeostatic properties, they have different age and topographic patterns that imply different functional correlates.

Keywords: Adolescence; FFT; longitudinal; maturation; pruning; sleep.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Average (± SE) delta power at each semiannual recording is plotted against age for Fz (A), Cz (B), and O1 (C). A Gompertz function calculated with SAS nonlinear mixed effect analysis is fit to the data from the C9 (triangles) and C12 (circles) cohorts. Data from the C6 (squares) cohort are shown but were not used to generate the function. In all three derivations, delta power declined steeply across adolescence but the magnitude and timing differed between sites (see text). The decline began earliest at the O1 electrode and latest at the Fz electrode. The curves for the C9 and C12 cohorts showed excellent agreement in the ages of overlap (12-15 years).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Absolute (A) and relative (B) rate of decline of delta power and theta power (C, D) plotted against age. Fz, Cz, and O1 are plotted in the same panels for comparison. Absolute rates of decline are the first derivatives (formula image) of the Gompertz equations plotted in Figure 1 (or Figure 4 for theta). The peak rate of delta power decline (2A) was greatest at electrode Cz. Relative rates of decline (2B, 2D) are the absolute rate of decline divided by the Gompertz parameter A. The relative rates of delta power decline (2B) were similar for the 3 sites. The earlier peak rate of delta power decline in O1 is evident in both Figures 2A and 2B. For theta power, the peak rate of decline was also greatest at Cz and smallest at O1, but the timing of the decline did not differ significantly between sites.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Age-related change in the ratio of frontal (Fz) to central (Cz) power for (A) delta and (B) theta EEG using the same format as Figure 1. For delta power, the Fz:Cz ratio was well below 1.0 at age 9 years and increased steeply across adolescence, surpassing 1.0 at about age 12 years. For theta power the Fz:Cz ratio also began below 1.0 and increased significantly but more slowly than the ratio for delta power.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Average (± SE) theta power at each semiannual recording is plotted against age for Fz (A), Cz (B), and O1 (C) using the same format as Figure 1. In all 3 derivations, theta power declined steeply across adolescence. Comparing Figure 4 to Figure 1 demonstrates that the theta decline began much earlier than the delta decline at all electrode sites.
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