Kumar · Progress in brain research 2026 · narrative review · n=?

Brain oscillations and sleep microarchitecture: From EEG to fMRI.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

Narrative review chapter synthesizing neuroimaging modalities without systematic methodology or primary human data.

PubMed 42547209 · doi:10.1016/bs.pbr.2026.07.003 · record verified 2026-08-26

What was done

This review chapter synthesized literature on the role of neural oscillations (delta to gamma frequencies) in defining sleep microarchitecture across NREM and REM sleep. It evaluated how electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provide complementary temporal and spatial data on sleep dynamics, reviewed advances in quantitative EEG signal processing and machine learning for stage classification, and discussed oscillatory disruptions in sleep disorders and neurodegenerative conditions.

What was found

The abstract provides a qualitative overview with no quantitative data or specific numerical results reported. It summarizes that slow waves dominate deep NREM sleep while desynchronization characterizes REM sleep, that combining EEG and fMRI links sleep spindles and slow oscillations to large-scale functional networks, and that oscillatory disruptions may serve as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers.

Why it matters

Multimodal neuroimaging combining EEG and fMRI offers a framework connecting sleep microarchitecture to cognitive function and clinical pathology, highlighting computational methods to detect sleep alterations.

Limits

This is a narrative review chapter containing no primary empirical data, meta-analytic pooling, or systematic search criteria. The abstract reports no quantitative metrics, effect sizes, diagnostic accuracy values, or sample characteristics for the referenced methodologies.