Time course of cortical response complexity during extended wakefulness and its differential association with vigilance in young and older individuals

Characterization of the complexity of electroencephalogram (EEG) responses has provided important insights in cognitive function as well as in the brain bases of consciousness and vigilance. Whether brain response complexity changes during prolonged wakefulness and sleep deprivation -when vigilance level considerably varies- is not fully elucidated yet. In the present study, we repeatedly assessed EEG responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over 34 h of sleep deprivation under constant routine conditions in healthy younger (N = 13; 5 women; 18-30 y) and older (N = 12; 6 women; 50-70 y) individuals, while they were performing a vigilance task. Response complexity was computed both at the global (all scalp sensors) and local (sensors surrounding TMS hotspot) levels using the Lempel-Ziv algorithm. Response complexity was significantly higher in the older compared to the young volunteers over the entire protocol. Global complexity response significantly changed with time spent awake, with an increasing trend from the beginning to the middle of the biological night, followed by a decreasing trend from the middle of the biological night to the following afternoon. An unexpected different link between vigilance performance and brain response complexity was detected across age groups: higher response complexity was associated with lower performance in the older group, particularly in the morning sessions. These findings show that cortical activity complexity changes with vigilance variation, as experienced during sleep deprivation and circadian misalignment, in two age groups, with no evident time course difference across age-groups. Aside from classical linear EEG analyses, computation of Lempel-Ziv complexity provides additional insights on the neurophysiology of the processes associated with vigilance and their modifications throughout ageing.