Polygenic impact of morningness on the overnight dynamics of sleep spindle amplitude

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Abstract

Sleep spindles are thalamocortical oscillations that contribute to sleep maintenanceand sleep-related brain plasticity. The current study is an explorative study of the cir-cadian dynamics of sleep spindles in relation to a polygenic score (PGS) for circadianpreference towards morningness. The participants represent the 17-year follow-upof a birth cohort having both genome-wide data and an ambulatory sleep electroen-cephalography measurement available (N= 154, Mean age = 16.9, SD = 0.1 years,57% girls). Based on a recent genome-wide association study, we calculated a PGSfor circadian preference towards morningness across the whole genome, including354 single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Stage 2 slow (9-12.5 Hz,N= 186 739) andfast (12.5-16 Hz,N= 135 504) sleep spindles were detected using an automatedalgorithm with individual time tags and amplitudes for each spindle. There was a sig-nificant interaction of PGS for morningness and timing of sleep spindles across thenight. These growth curve models showed a curvilinear trajectory of spindle ampli-tudes: those with a higher PGS for morningness showed higher slow spindle ampli-tudes in frontal derivations, and a faster dissipation of spindle amplitude in centralderivations. Overall, the findings provide new evidence on how individual sleep spin-dle trajectories are influenced by genetic factors associated with circadian type. Thefinding may lead to new hypotheses on the associations previously observedbetween circadian types, psychiatric problems and spindle activity.
Original languageEnglish
Article number12641
JournalGenes, Brain and Behavior
Volume19
Issue number4
Number of pages9
ISSN1601-1848
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Fields of Science

  • brain
  • circadian rhythm
  • gene
  • plasticity
  • polygenic score
  • polysomnography
  • sleep
  • sleep EEG
  • sleep spindle
  • sleep timing
  • young adult
  • RAPID EYE-MOVEMENT
  • GENETIC-VARIANTS
  • CHILDHOOD
  • EEG
  • FINGERPRINT
  • SLOW
  • 515 Psychology

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