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A Passive Behavioral Measure of Sleep Onset in High‐Alpha and Low‐Alpha Subjects
Author(s) -
Perry Thomas J.,
Goldwater Bram C.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1987.tb00346.x
Subject(s) - alpha (finance) , psychology , audiology , sleep (system call) , alpha rhythm , electroencephalography , developmental psychology , psychometrics , medicine , neuroscience , internal consistency , computer science , operating system
Polygraph recordings were conducted with normal subjects who were not sleep‐deprived lo examine the association between EFG alpha dynamics and a passive behavioral index of sleep/ wake status, and to assess the usefulness of that index in subjects who do not produce abundant wakeful alpha activity. I In‐ behavioral indicator of sleep unset comprised the depression of a telegraph key initialed by loss of extensor tension in the finger. Alpha abundant (high‐alpha) subjects showed a strong association of alpha level (as sleep Stage Wake (w) vs. Stage I sleep) with behavioral level, and a strong association of alpha loss events with key closure events. Mean latencies between alpha loss and key closure varied from ‐ 1.8 to 18.4 s with a median of 1.0 s. As expected, high‐alpha subjects also showed significant correlations between alpha level and changes in peripheral physiological variables in the vicinity of sustained alpha losses. Compared with Stage W. Stage 1 was associated with a greater incidence of slow eye movements, lower abdominal breathing amplitude, and a higher thoracic:abdominal breathing ratio. Similar correlations were observed in both high‐alpha and low‐alpha subjects between these variables and the key index, supporting its potential generality as an indicator of sleep onset.