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Cited by 31Sleep and Wakefulness ResearchCreativity in Education and NeuroscienceNeural dynamics and brain function

Differential Associations of Early- and Late-Night Sleep with Functional Brain States Promoting Insight to Abstract Task Regularity

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Yordanova, Juliana, Kolev, Vasil, Wagner, Ullrich, Verleger, Rolf·2010·PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0009442PMC PMC2829083
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Solving a task with insight has been associated with occipital and right-hemisphere activations. The present study tested the hypothesis if sleep-related alterations in functional activation states modulate the probability of insight into a hidden abstract regularity of a task. METHODOLOGY: State-dependent functional activation was measured by beta and alpha electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and spatial synchronization. Task-dependent functional activation was assessed by slow cortical potentials (SPs). EEG parameters during the performance of the Number Reduction Task (NRT) were compared between before sleep and after sleep sessions. In two different groups, the relevant sleep occurred either in the first or in the second half of the night, dominated by slow wave sleep (SWS) or by rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Changes in EEG parameters only occurred in the early-night group, not in the late-night group and indicated occipital and right-hemisphere functional alterations. These changes were associated with off-line consolidation of implicit task representations and with the amount of SWS but they did not predict subsequent insight. The gain of insight was, however, independently associated with changes of spectral beta and alpha measures only in those subjects from the two sleep groups who would subsequently comprehend the hidden regularity of the task. Insight-related enhancement of right frontal asymmetry after sleep did not depend on sleep stages. SIGNIFICANCE: It is concluded that off-line restructuring of implicit information during sleep is accompanied by alterations of functional activation states after sleep. This mechanism is promoted by SWS but not by REM sleep and may contribute to attaining insight after sleep. Original neurophysiologic evidence is provided for alterations of the functional activation brain states after sleep. These alterations are associated with a decrease in controlled processing within the visual system and with an increase in the functional connectivity of the right hemisphere, and are supported by SWS in the first half of the night.

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  • Gain of insight depends on occurrence of spindle activity during early SWS-rich nocturnal sleep.

    “Subsequent studies of the same group specified that the gain of insight depended on the occurrence of spindle activity during early SWS-rich nocturnal sleep (1346 -1350).”

    From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [1350]

    The Principal Findings state that early-night EEG changes associated with SWS did not predict subsequent insight, and that insight-related right frontal changes did not depend on sleep stage. The Discussion likewise says the critical marker of insight appeared in subsequent solvers after either SWS- or REM-rich sleep. The cited paper does not identify spindle activity as a requirement for gaining insight. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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Authors
Yordanova, J., Kolev, V., Wagner, U., & Verleger, R.
Affiliations
  • Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BG)
  • Bangor University (GB)
  • University of Lübeck (DE)
Corresponding author
  • Yordanova, Juliana
  • Kolev, Vasil
  • Wagner, Ullrich
  • Verleger, Rolf
ORCID
Venue
PLoS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2010-02-26
Volume
5
Issue
2
Pages
e9442
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0009442
PMC
PMC2829083
OpenAlex
W2066589531
Cited by
31
References
12
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
FWCI
1.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB654)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
Keywords
insight, sleep timing, slow-wave sleep, REM sleep, right hemisphere, spatial synchrony, slow cortical potentials
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Attention, Brain, Cognition, Electroencephalography, Humans, Memory, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Sleep, REM, Task Performance and Analysis, Time Factors, Young Adult

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