The Awakening Brain is Characterized by a Widespread and Spatiotemporally Heterogeneous Increase in High Frequencies

Morning awakening is part of everyday life. Surprisingly, information remains scarce on its underlying neurophysiological correlates. Here simultaneous polysomnography and stereo-electroencephalography recordings from 18 patients are used to assess the spectral and connectivity content of the process of awakening at a local level 15 min before and after the awakening. Awakenings from non-rapid eye movement sleep are accompanied by a widespread increase in ripple (>80 Hz) power in the fronto-temporal and parieto-insular regions, with connectivity showing an almost exclusive increase in the ripple band in the somatomotor, default, dorsal attention, and frontoparietal networks. Awakenings from rapid eye movement sleep are characterized by a widespread and almost exclusive increase in the ripple band in all available brain lobes, and connectivity increases mainly in the low ripple band in the limbic system as well as the default, dorsal attention, somatomotor, and frontoparietal networks.