Human cortical excitability depends on time spent awake and circadian phase

At any point in time, human performance results from the interaction of two main factors: a circadian signal varying with the time of the day and the sleep need accrued throughout the preceding waking period. But what’s happen at the cortical cerebral level? We used a novel technique coupling transcranial magnetic stimulation with electroencephalography (TMS/EEG) to assess the influence of time spent awake and circadian phasis on human cortical excitability. Twenty-two healthy young men underwent 8 TMS/EEG sessions during a 28 hour sleep deprivation protocole. We found that cortical excitability depends on both time spent awake and circadian phasis.