Principal component analysis of the EEG spectrum can provide yes-or-no criteria for demarcation of boundaries between NREM sleep stages

Human sleep begins in stage 1 and progresses into stages 2 and 3 of Non-Rapid-Eye-Movement (NREM) sleep. These stages were defined using several arbitrarily-defined thresholds for subdivision of albeit continuous process of sleep deepening. Since recent studies indicate that stage 3 (slow wave sleep) has unique vital functions, more accurate measurement of this stage duration and continuity might be required for both research and practical purposes. However, the true neurophysiological boundary between stages 2 and 3 remains unknown. In a search for non-arbitrary threshold criteria for distinguishing the boundaries between NREM sleep stages, scores on the principal components of the electroencephalographic (EEG) spectrum were analyzed in relation to stage onsets. Eighteen young men made 12–20-minute attempts to nap during 24-hour wakefulness. Single-minute intervals of the nap EEG records were assigned relative to the minute of onsets of polysomnographically determined stages 1, 2, and 3. The analysis of within-nap time courses of principal components scores revealed that, unlike any conventional spectral EEG index, score on the 4th principal component exhibited a rather rapid rise on the boundary between stages 2 and 3. This was mostly a change from negative to positive score. Therefore, it might serve as yes-or-no criterion of stage 3 onset. Additionally, similarly rapid changes in sign of scores were exhibited by the 1st and 2nd principal components on the boundary of stages 2 and 1 and on the boundary between stage 1 and wakefulness, respectively.