Sleepiness and the transition from wakefulness to sleep
Neurophysiologie Clinique. 2024-04-01; 54(2): 102954
DOI: 10.1016/j.neucli.2024.102954
Lire sur PubMed
Andrillon T(1), Taillard J(2), Strauss M(3).
Author information:
(1)Paris Brain Institute, Sorbonne Université, Inserm-CNRS, Paris 75013, France;
Monash Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies, Monash University,
Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia.
(2)Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, SANPSY, UMR 6033, F-33000 Bordeaux, France.
(3)Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles
(H.U.B), CUB Hôpital Érasme, Services de Neurologie, Psychiatrie et Laboratoire
du sommeil, Route de Lennik 808 1070 Bruxelles, Belgium; Neuropsychology and
Functional Neuroimaging Research Group (UR2NF), Center for Research in Cognition
and Neurosciences (CRCN), Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Brussels,
Belgium. Electronic address: .
The transition from wakefulness to sleep is a progressive process that is
reflected in the gradual loss of responsiveness, an alteration of cognitive
functions, and a drastic shift in brain dynamics. These changes do not occur all
at once. The sleep onset period (SOP) refers here to this period of transition
between wakefulness and sleep. For example, although transitions of brain
activity at sleep onset can occur within seconds in a given brain region, these
changes occur at different time points across the brain, resulting in a SOP that
can last several minutes. Likewise, the transition to sleep impacts cognitive
and behavioral levels in a graded and staged fashion. It is often accompanied
and preceded by a sensation of drowsiness and the subjective feeling of a need
for sleep, also associated with specific physiological and behavioral
signatures. To better characterize fluctuations in vigilance and the SOP, a
multidimensional approach is thus warranted. Such a multidimensional approach
could mitigate important limitations in the current classification of sleep,
leading ultimately to better diagnoses and treatments of individuals with sleep
and/or vigilance disorders. These insights could also be translated in real-life
settings to either facilitate sleep onset in individuals with sleep difficulties
or, on the contrary, prevent or control inappropriate sleep onsets.
Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neucli.2024.102954
PMID: 38460284
Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of competing interest None.