Auditory event‐related potentials during stage 2 NREM sleep in humans

Abstract

SUMMARY  Event‐related potential (ERP) recordings were used to investigate the nature of auditory stimulus evaluation during stage 2 sleep. Frequent and rare stimuli, differing in intensity and frequency, were presented to six adult subjects while awake and asleep. The latency and voltage distribution of one of the long‐latency components evoked during sleep resembled the P3 component evoked while awake. However, it was attenuated in voltage and superimposed on N3, a large late negative component, most probably the slow potential of the K complex. The identification of a P3‐like potential during sleep suggests that the P3 potential is not solely a marker of active cognitive processes, but contains a small component which reflects automatic, pre‐attentive evaluation of deviant stimuli. © 1992 European Sleep Research Society