Exploring the origins of slow-wave sleep

Lead researcher: Professor Miles Whittington, Hull York Medical School

Professor Miles Whittington and York Neuroimaging Centre researchers are exploring the origins of slow-wave (deep) sleep.

This is the state of sleep we all need but, unlike dreams, we are totally unaware of while it happens.

The accepted doctrine is that the slow-wave, electrical behaviour of the brain during this state is governed by one single area called the thalamus. However, this group has recently shown that the cortex – the outer structure of the brain, nearest the inside of the skull – is also capable of generating this activity by itself (1).

By comparing MEG recordings during subjects’ resting wake state and subsequent sleep, this group is attempting to determine the relative contributions of these two regions in the overall dynamics of the natural unconscious state to try to understand why it is so important for mental health.