Sleep deprivation and Modafinil affect cortical sources of resting state electroencephalographic rhythms in healthy young adults

Objective It has been reported that sleep deprivation affects the neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning the vigilance. Here, we tested the following hypotheses in the PharmaCog project ( www.pharmacog.org ): (i) sleep deprivation may alter posterior cortical delta and alpha sources of resting state eyes-closed electroencephalographic (rsEEG) rhythms in healthy young adults; (ii) after the sleep deprivation, a vigilance enhancer may recover those rsEEG source markers. Methods rsEEG data were recorded in 36 healthy young adults before (Pre-sleep deprivation) and after (Post-sleep deprivation) one night of sleep deprivation. In the Post-sleep deprivation, these data were collected after a single dose of PLACEBO or MODAFINIL. rsEEG cortical sources were estimated by eLORETA freeware. Results In the PLACEBO condition, the sleep deprivation induced an increase and a decrease in posterior delta (2–4 Hz) and alpha (8–13 Hz) source activities, respectively. In the MODAFINIL condition, the vigilance enhancer partially recovered those source activities. Conclusions The present results suggest that posterior delta and alpha source activities may be both related to the regulation of human brain arousal and vigilance in quiet wakefulness. Significance Future research in healthy young adults may use this methodology to preselect new symptomatic drug candidates designed to normalize brain arousal and vigilance in seniors with dementia.