Sleep slow wave changes during the middle years of life

Slow waves (SW; < 4 Hz and > 75 μV) during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in humans are characterized by hyperpolarization [surface electroencephalogram (EEG) SW negative phase], during which cortical neurons are silent, and depolarization (surface EEG positive phase), during which the cortical neurons fire intensively. We assessed the effects of age, sex and topography on the dynamics of SW characteristics in a large population (n=87) of...