Autoren:
Jonathan G. Maier | University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Germany
Florian Mainberger | Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Germany
Marion Kuhn | Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Germany
Stephanie Guo | Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Germany
Katharina Nachtsheim | Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Germany
Nicolai H. Jung | Department of Pediatrics, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany | Germany
Volker Mall | Department of Pediatrics, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany | Germany
Claus Normann | Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Germany
Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Klöppel | University Hospital of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Switzerland
Bernd Feige | Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Germany
Prof. Dr. Dieter Riemann | Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Germany
Prof. Dr. med. Christoph Nissen | University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany | Switzerland
Preclincial studies suggest that NREM sleep promotes global downscaling of overall synaptic strength (homeostatic plasticity) and the consolidation of long-term potentiation (LTP) of synapses engaged in prior task-specific encoding (associative plasticity). In this study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as non-invasive markers of homeostatic and associative synaptic plasticity in humans before and after brief periods of daytime sleep and wakefulness (repeated measures sleep laboratory study, 14 healthy University students, 5 females, 9 males, aged 18–30 years). We demonstrate indices of decreased overall synaptic strength (wake EEG theta activity) and increased input-specific LTP-like synaptic strength (paired associative stimulation (PAS) induced changes in motor-evoked potentials) after sleep compared to wakefulness. The increase in LTP-like plasticity was positively correlated with EEG slow wave activity (1-4 Hz) over the stimulated motor cortex (M1). Our study supports the notion that slow wave activity during NREM sleep orchestrates homeostatic and associative synaptic plasticity, hypothesized to be the neural basis for healthy functioning and adaptive behavior, in humans.