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Peer-reviewedCC BYNeuroImage

Circadian and sleep-wake modulation of EEG functional connectivity across brain states and Its associations with cognition in humans

  • Alpar S Lazar1
  • Zsolt I Lazar2
  • Nayantara Santhi3
  • June C Lo4
  • John A Groeger5
  • Derk-Jan Dijk6
6 affiliations
  1. 1Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK; Surrey Sleep Research Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK; Corresponding author at: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
  2. 2Faculty of Physics, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  3. 3Department of Psychology, University of Northumbria, Newcastle, UK; Surrey Sleep Research Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
  4. 4Centre for Sleep and Cognition, Human Potential Translational Research Programme, and Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Surrey Sleep Research Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
  5. 5Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom; Surrey Sleep Research Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
  6. 6Surrey Sleep Research Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute, Care Research& Technology at Imperial College London and the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
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Abstract

Sleep and circadian rhythms both influence human brain function, but their distinct contributions to large-scale network organisation remain unclear. We quantified the effect of brain state (wake, NREM, REM), sleep-wake history, and circadian phase on functional connectivity using over 1200 h of artefact-free EEG recorded during a 10-day forced-desynchrony protocol. We derived principal components of functional connectivity and found that both sleep-wake history and circadian phase significantly modulated functional connectivity, with sleep-wake history exerting a broader influence. Complementary cosinor analyses further demonstrated circadian rhythmicity in several NREM and REM connectivity measures. Across sleep, global connectivity increased progressively during NREM sleep, particularly in the delta and sigma bands, but declined during REM sleep. During controlled resting wakefulness, increasing time awake was associated with higher global alpha-band connectivity, which was associated with poorer concurrent cognitive performance. Connectivity during NREM sleep was also associated with subsequent cognitive performance, with lower global theta and, to a lesser extent, higher sigma connectivity linked to better performance. REM connectivity was not associated with these cognitive measures. Together, these findings reveal opposing NREM and REM trajectories in large-scale EEG functional connectivity and show that these brain-state-specific network dynamics are shaped by both sleep-wake history and circadian phase and are associated with cognitive performance.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{lazar2026circadian,
  title = {{Circadian and sleep-wake modulation of EEG functional connectivity across brain states and Its associations with cognition in humans}},
  author = {Alpar S Lazar and Zsolt I Lazar and Nayantara Santhi and June C Lo and John A Groeger and Derk-Jan Dijk},
  journal = {NeuroImage},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122301},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122301},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Circadian and sleep-wake modulation of EEG functional connectivity across brain states and Its associations with cognition in humans
AU  - Alpar S Lazar
AU  - Zsolt I Lazar
AU  - Nayantara Santhi
AU  - June C Lo
AU  - John A Groeger
AU  - Derk-Jan Dijk
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/30
JO  - NeuroImage
DO  - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122301
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122301
AB  - Sleep and circadian rhythms both influence human brain function, but their distinct contributions to large-scale network organisation remain unclear. We quantified the effect of brain state (wake, NREM, REM), sleep-wake history, and circadian phase on functional connectivity using over 1200 h of artefact-free EEG recorded during a 10-day forced-desynchrony protocol. We derived principal components of functional connectivity and found that both sleep-wake history and circadian phase significantly modulated functional connectivity, with sleep-wake history exerting a broader influence. Complementary cosinor analyses further demonstrated circadian rhythmicity in several NREM and REM connectivity measures. Across sleep, global connectivity increased progressively during NREM sleep, particularly in the delta and sigma bands, but declined during REM sleep. During controlled resting wakefulness, increasing time awake was associated with higher global alpha-band connectivity, which was associated with poorer concurrent cognitive performance. Connectivity during NREM sleep was also associated with subsequent cognitive performance, with lower global theta and, to a lesser extent, higher sigma connectivity linked to better performance. REM connectivity was not associated with these cognitive measures. Together, these findings reveal opposing NREM and REM trajectories in large-scale EEG functional connectivity and show that these brain-state-specific network dynamics are shaped by both sleep-wake history and circadian phase and are associated with cognitive performance.
SN  - 1095-9572
SN  - 1053-8119
ER  -