Characterization of Sleep, Spectral, and Epileptiform Activity in Individuals Aged 8-27 Years with SYNGAP1-Related Disorder Using an at-Home Dry EEG Headband
- 1Beacon Biosignals
Abstract
SYNGAP1-related disorder (SYNGAP1-RD) is associated with sleep disturbances, seizures, and neurophysiological abnormalities. However, in-lab EEG can be difficult to obtain due to the behavioral and sensory disorders associated with this condition. In this study we collected EEG in SYNGAP1-RD participants (n=30 enrolled, 27 contributing data) in a decentralized protocol using a dry electrode headband as a path to longitudinal, research-grade data collection in this population. At-home data collection was successful with 180 recordings containing over 1 hour of usable data collected from 23 participants. Across these recordings, sporadic interictal epileptiform discharges were present in 22 of 23 participants but electrographic seizures were not observed. Relative to an adolescent control population (n=10), SYNGAP1-RD participants showed increased wake after sleep onset, reduced sleep efficiency, and decreased time in N1 and N3 sleep stages along with increased time in N2. We reproduced prior findings from awake spectral EEG analyses, including elevated broadband power along with reduced relative alpha power and alpha-theta ratio in the SYNGAP1 cohort. Notably, differences in spectral power were tightly linked to sleep stage, revealing sleep-stage-dependent spectral biomarker dynamics not previously characterized in SYNGAP1-RD. Finally, we examined differences between variants producing truncations downstream of the GAP domain and those producing truncations before or within it, but analyses were limited by a small sample size (n=4 for the post-GAP variant). Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility of at-home multi-night sleep EEG collection in participants with SYNGAP1-RD and led to both corroborative and novel findings.
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BibTeX
@misc{sheehan2026characterization,
title = {{Characterization of Sleep, Spectral, and Epileptiform Activity in Individuals Aged 8-27 Years with SYNGAP1-Related Disorder Using an at-Home Dry EEG Headband}},
author = {T. C. Sheehan and E. L. Schwartz and K. P. Laberinto and R. K. Reh and M. Dorsey and K. McGuckin and S. Y. Sritharan and J. M. Graglia and V. McNamar and K. A. Helde and A. Misko and A. J. Linares and C. J. Dinsmore and J. Donoghue and J. Pathmanathan},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.21.26366120},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.26366120v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Characterization of Sleep, Spectral, and Epileptiform Activity in Individuals Aged 8-27 Years with SYNGAP1-Related Disorder Using an at-Home Dry EEG Headband
AU - T. C. Sheehan
AU - E. L. Schwartz
AU - K. P. Laberinto
AU - R. K. Reh
AU - M. Dorsey
AU - K. McGuckin
AU - S. Y. Sritharan
AU - J. M. Graglia
AU - V. McNamar
AU - K. A. Helde
AU - A. Misko
AU - A. J. Linares
AU - C. J. Dinsmore
AU - J. Donoghue
AU - J. Pathmanathan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.21.26366120
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.26366120v1
AB - SYNGAP1-related disorder (SYNGAP1-RD) is associated with sleep disturbances, seizures, and neurophysiological abnormalities. However, in-lab EEG can be difficult to obtain due to the behavioral and sensory disorders associated with this condition. In this study we collected EEG in SYNGAP1-RD participants (n=30 enrolled, 27 contributing data) in a decentralized protocol using a dry electrode headband as a path to longitudinal, research-grade data collection in this population. At-home data collection was successful with 180 recordings containing over 1 hour of usable data collected from 23 participants. Across these recordings, sporadic interictal epileptiform discharges were present in 22 of 23 participants but electrographic seizures were not observed. Relative to an adolescent control population (n=10), SYNGAP1-RD participants showed increased wake after sleep onset, reduced sleep efficiency, and decreased time in N1 and N3 sleep stages along with increased time in N2. We reproduced prior findings from awake spectral EEG analyses, including elevated broadband power along with reduced relative alpha power and alpha-theta ratio in the SYNGAP1 cohort. Notably, differences in spectral power were tightly linked to sleep stage, revealing sleep-stage-dependent spectral biomarker dynamics not previously characterized in SYNGAP1-RD. Finally, we examined differences between variants producing truncations downstream of the GAP domain and those producing truncations before or within it, but analyses were limited by a small sample size (n=4 for the post-GAP variant). Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility of at-home multi-night sleep EEG collection in participants with SYNGAP1-RD and led to both corroborative and novel findings.
ER -