NREM sleep oscillations are altered in young adults with heightened anxiety

Hazal Arpaci; Nandita Banik; Pınar Kurdoglu Ersoy; Ciara Harrington; Aycan Kapucu; Bengi Baran

doi:10.17077/pp.006689

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NREM sleep oscillations are altered in young adults with heightened anxiety

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NREM sleep oscillations are altered in young adults with heightened anxiety

Hazal Arpaci, Nandita Banik, Pınar Kurdoglu Ersoy, Ciara Harrington, Aycan Kapucu and Bengi Baran

Iowa research online

University of Iowa

10/29/2024

DOI: 10.17077/pp.006689

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Abstract

Non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) oscillations are critical for cognitive and affective processing. While several studies link anxiety symptoms to sleep quality, a critical gap remains in elucidating the role of NREM physiology in sleep-dependent processing of affect and anxiety symptoms. The goals of the present study were to determine whether heightened trait anxiety alters sleep architecture, NREM oscillations and emotional memory consolidation, and investigate the relations of NREM oscillations with state anxiety and affect. Forty-two participants were recruited from a larger cohort of college students based on self-reported high (>2SD cohort mean, n=26) vs low levels of trait anxiety (<2SD cohort mean, n=16) for a 2-hr polysomnography monitored mid-day nap. Memory for negative and neutral picture stimuli were tested over this nap interval. We observed significantly reduced slow oscillation (SO) activity in the High Anxiety group but no changes to macro features of sleep (sleep duration, latency, efficiency or stage distributions). Sleep spindles and SO predicted post-nap state anxiety and negative affect. Importantly, these were independent relationships in opposing directions such that higher SO activity was associated with reduced negative affect and state anxiety, whereas spindle activity correlated with higher negative affect and anxiety. There were no group differences in emotional memory, nor did sleep parameters correlate with memory performance. These findings reflect that NREM oscillations are uniquely sensitive to both trait and state level variability in anxiety and affect, highlighting their potential as a novel treatment target.

sleep oscillations

anxiety

affect

non-rapid eye movement sleep

Details

Title: Subtitle: NREM sleep oscillations are altered in young adults with heightened anxiety
Creators: Hazal Arpaci - University of Iowa
Nandita Banik - University of Iowa
Pınar Kurdoglu Ersoy - Ege University
Ciara Harrington - University of Iowa
Aycan Kapucu - Ege University
Bengi Baran - University of Iowa, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Resource Type: Preprint
Publication Details: Iowa research online
Publisher: University of Iowa; Iowa City, Iowa, USA
DOI: 10.17077/pp.006689
ISSN: 2476-1680
Number of pages: 25 pages
Grants: Mechanisms of Health and Disease at the Behavioral-Biomedical Interface, T32GM108540, National Institutes of Health (United States, Bethesda) - NIH
The Role of Thalamic Circuitry Dysfunction in Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia:Wake and Sleep, K01MH114012, National Institute of Mental Health (United States, Bethesda) - NIMH
Understanding Health and Disease at the Behavioral-Biomedical Interface, T32GM149386, National Institutes of Health (United States, Bethesda) - NIH
Comment: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Language: English
Date posted: 10/29/2024
Academic Unit: Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Psychiatry; Psychological and Brain Sciences
Record Identifier: 9984720830102771

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