Behaviorally Signalled Awakenings in Relationship to Duration of Alpha Activity

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examined the relationship between behavioral awakening as Indicated by motor responses and electroencephalographic (EEG) measures of awakening as reflected by the duration of alpha (8‐12 Hz) activity. Young adult males were monitored polygraphically as they slept in the laboratory for three successive nights. They were instructed to press a button three times whenever they awakened from sleep. Latency from the appearance of alpha activity to subsequent button‐presses was determined. Mean latency to button‐press across subjects, nights, and sleep stages was 6.54 (±4.38) sec. Differences In latencies as a function of prior sleep stage or night of the study were not statistically significant. It is concluded that the amount of alpha activity preceding behavioral acknowledgement of an awakening is somewhat less than that required to constitute wakefulness by conventional scoring systems.