Alpha sleep and information processing, perception of sleep, pain, and arousability in fibromyalgia

This study examined the relationship between alpha sleep and information processing during sleep, perception of sleep, musculoskeletal pain, and arousability in patients with fibromyalgia. Patients (n = 20) were allowed to sleep undisturbed for the first 60 minutes of the study to assess amount of alpha sleep and were classified as high or low alpha generators based on quantitative analyses of alpha activity during this period. The groups were compared for performance on two memory tasks, perceptions of polysomnographically-defined sleep and EEG arousals in response to auditory stimuli. Correlations between symptoms of fibromyalgia and alpha activity were also examined. Alpha activity during sleep in fibromyalgic patients was associated with the perception of shallow sleep and an increased tendency to arouse in relation to auditory stimuli. Alpha activity was not associated with increased memory for auditory stimuli presented during sleep, sleep state misperception, or with myalgia symptoms. Alpha sleep appears to be, electrophysiologically, a shallow form of sleep. Our results suggest that it is perceived as such phenomenologically and that it is also associated with increased arousability.