Journal
BRAIN IMAGING AND BEHAVIOR
Volume 16, Issue 1, Pages 305-315Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11682-021-00504-w
Keywords
Sleep; Intelligence; Reasoning abilities; Verbal abilities; Short-term memory; NREM; REM; fMRI; EEG
Categories
Funding
- Canada Excellence Research Chair Grant
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Research indicates that the relationship between sleep and intellectual abilities extends beyond sleep spindles to include other brain activities during different sleep-wake states. Specifically, during non-rapid eye movement sleep, fluid intelligence correlated positively with activity in the putamen and paracentral lobule/precuneus, while short-term memory abilities correlated positively with activity in the medial frontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus. Additionally, during wake, activity in the bilateral postcentral gyri and occipital lobe was positively correlated with short-term memory abilities.
The sleep spindle, a waxing and waning oscillation in the sigma frequency range, has been shown to correlate with fluid intelligence; i.e. the ability to use logic, learn novel rules/patterns, and solve problems. Using simultaneous EEG and fMRI, we previously identified the neural correlates of this relationship, including activation of the thalamus, bilateral putamen, medial frontal gyrus, middle cingulate cortex, and precuneus. However, research to date has focussed primarily on non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and spindles per se, thus overlooking the possibility that brain activity that occurs in other sleep-wake states might also be related to cognitive abilities. In our current study, we sought to investigate whether brain activity across sleep/wake states is also related to human intelligence in N = 29 participants. During NREM sleep, positive correlations were observed between fluid intelligence and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activations in the bilateral putamen and the paracentral lobule/precuneus, as well as between short-term memory (STM) abilities and activity in the medial frontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus. During wake, activity in bilateral postcentral gyri and occipital lobe was positively correlated with short-term memory abilities. In participants who experienced REM sleep in the scanner, fluid intelligence was positively associated with midbrain activation, and verbal intelligence was associated with right postcentral gyrus activation. These findings provide evidence that the relationship between sleep and intellectual abilities exists beyond sleep spindles.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available