The Human K-Complex as an Isolated Cortical "Down-State"
Summary
This paper demonstrates that the K-complex represents an isolated "down-state" characterized by a significant decrease in neuronal firing and network activity. By utilizing simultaneous intracortical and subdural recordings, we show these events are generated by widespread dendritic currents, linking human sleep architecture to fundamental cortical processing modes previously observed in animal models.
Links
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@article{KC-science-2009,
author = {Sydney S. Cash and Eric Halgren and Nima Dehghani and Andrea O. Rossetti and Thomas Thesen and ChunMao Wang and Orrin Devinsky and Ruben Kuzniecky and Werner Doyle and Joseph R. Madsen and Edward Bromfield and Loránd Erőss and Péter Halász and George Karmos and Richárd Csercsa and Lucia Wittner and István Ulbert},
title = {The Human K-Complex Represents an Isolated Cortical Down-State},
journal = {Science},
volume = {324},
number = {5930},
pages = {1084-1087},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1126/science.1169626},
URL = {https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1169626},
eprint = {https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1169626},
}
Code & Data
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Abstract
The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a mainstay of clinical neurology and is tightly correlated with brain function, but the specific currents generating human EEG elements remain poorly specified because of a lack of microphysiological recordings. The largest event in healthy human EEGs is the K-complex (KC), which occurs in slow-wave sleep. Here, we show that KCs are generated in widespread cortical areas by outward dendritic currents in the middle and upper cortical layers, accompanied by decreased broadband EEG power and decreased neuronal firing, which demonstrate a steep decline in network activity. Thus, KCs are isolated “down-states,” a fundamental cortico-thalamic processing mode already characterized in animals. This correspondence is compatible with proposed contributions of the KC to sleep preservation and memory consolidation.
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