Visually triggered K-complexes: a study in New Zealand rabbits

K-complexes are the EEG elements recorded during the state of developing sleep and during slow wave sleep. They are the only EEG components which can be elicited by sensory stimulation during sleep. The peculiarity of New Zealand rabbits to sleep with their eyes open allows the use of visual stimuli to elicit K-complexes. Experiments were performed with three rabbits. For visual stimulation, an elongated screen illuminated by LED flashes was attached to an implant on the animal's skull. The screen covered 20-120° of the visual field of one eye, and moved with the head during animal motion. One-millisecond flashes (15-s interval) were used during daytime in an illuminated room. Flashes elicited evoked responses, which, during the first stages of sleep, were often accompanied by K-complexes. The induced K-complexes were recorded from electrodes located both above visual and somatosensory areas. Evoked responses to visual stimuli were also recorded from both pairs of electrodes, although they were generated exclusively in the visual cortex. Correlation analysis showed that visual evoked responses and K-complexes induced by this stimulation were generated in visual cortex, and passively spread to the electrodes above the somatosensory area. Investigation of the latencies of induced K-complexes revealed two time windows when these complexes could be seen. Within each window there was no correlation between latency and amplitude of K-complexes. There was also no correlation between amplitudes of the visual evoked responses and K-complexes elicited by these responses. We propose that visual stimulation in light sleep temporarily opens a gate for some independent external signals, which evoke activation of the visual cortex, reflected in K-complexes.