Sleep Quality: A Focus on Sleep Structure

Dear Colleagues,

A “good night’s sleep” is traditionally associated with a prolonged sleep duration and stability of the sleep phase. Today’s sleep patterns are, however, characterized by a consistent reduction in sleep time, with the habitual sleep period that has to fit within a limited nighttime window, not sufficient to satisfy the whole sleep processes. Furthermore, the extensive use of artificial light at night (LAN) and the widespread use of portable light-emitting devices during late evening hours have extended the average length of the daily photoperiod, with a consequent delay in the melatonin secretion resulting in a significant impact on circadian phase relationship. All these factors contribute to a decreased sleep quality.

As also emphasized by the National Sleep Foundation that has suggested that individuals should focus on their own sleep quality, assessment and understanding of sleep quality is a critical issue on current sleep research.

Standard PSG parameters and quantitative EEG measures have provided no definitive evidence of objective indicators of sleep quality. Moreover, the manipulation of sleep, either as sleep restriction or deprivation of a specific sleep component (i.e., SWS), has failed to reveal significant and reproducible effects on subsequent waking performance.

PSG has been mainly used for traditional sleep scoring analysis, with a few studies addressing the analysis of sleep stage transitions and of sleep micro structure, which, in patient populations, have shown promising insights into the mechanisms of sleep organization.

This Special Issue will focus on understanding sleep structure either at macro and micro level, that can result in poor sleep quality, and also will look at cognitive task or psychotherapeutic techniques that throughout modifying sleep architecture can improve sleep quality. Papers addressing these topics are invited.

Dr. Giuseppe Barbato
Prof. Dr. Gianluca Ficca 
Guest Editors

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