ArticleNature communications2017
Auditory closed-loop stimulation of EEG slow oscillations strengthens sleep and signs of its immune-supportive function.
Article in Nature communications, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 144 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Closed-Loop Feedback Techniques in Sleep Studies-Related Issues and Future Directions.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Pooled it
- Cardiovascular Responses to Natural and Auditory Evoked Slow Waves Predict Post-Sleep Cardiac Function.Journal of sleep research · 2026Trial
- Skin-attached bioadhesive patch enabling ultrasound deep brain stimulation and real-time electrophysiological monitoring for REM sleep enhancement.Nature communications · 2026Trial
- Enhancing sleep slow waves with auditory stimulation in people with Parkinson's disease: a randomized proof-of-concept trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Closed-loop modulation of sleep in children undergoing intracranial recordings.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Trial
- Group-Delivered Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Reduce Psychological Distress and Improve Sleep in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial (MindIBD).Inflammatory bowel diseases · 2025Trial
- A randomized controlled trial of alpha phase-locked auditory stimulation to treat symptoms of sleep onset insomnia.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Strengthening sleep-autonomic interaction via acoustic enhancement of slow oscillations.Sleep · 2019Trial
- Tone-Evoked Sleep Electroencephalographic Slow Oscillations as a Function of Peripheral Rhythms: New Insights Into the Brain-Heart Integration.Journal of sleep research · 2026Article
- Article
- Auditory-evoked changes in slow oscillations and spindles correlate with memory consolidation in children with epilepsy and controls.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Article
- Sleep and circadian rhythms in cardiovascular resilience: mechanisms, implications, and a Roadmap for research and interventions.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2026Review
- Social rank and social environment combinedly affect REM sleep in mice.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Brain dynamic audio stimulation for subjective sleep disturbances in healthcare professionals: a single-arm pilot feasibility study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Overnight changes in performance fatigability and their relationship to modulated deep sleep oscillations via auditory stimulation.Journal of sleep research · 2025Article
- Pupil size reveals arousal level fluctuations in human sleep.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Acoustic stimulation and other emerging approaches to enhance sleep: design notes for the next generation of closed-loop neurostimulation technology.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Review
- Signal acquisition of brain-computer interfaces: A medical-engineering crossover perspective review.Fundamental research · 2025Review
- Sleep Architecture Changes in Diabetes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Can Neuromodulation Improve Sleep and Psychiatric Symptoms?Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sleep is essential for health. Slow wave sleep (SWS), the deepest sleep stage hallmarked by electroencephalographic slow oscillations (SOs), appears of particular relevance here. SWS is associated with a unique endocrine milieu comprising minimum cortisol and high aldosterone, growth hormone (GH), and prolactin levels, thereby presumably fostering efficient adaptive immune responses. Yet, whether SWS causes these changes is unclear. Here we enhance SOs in men by auditory closed-loop stimulation, i.e., by delivering tones in synchrony with endogenous SOs. Stimulation intensifies the hormonal milieu characterizing SWS (mainly by further reducing cortisol and increasing aldosterone levels) and reduces T and B cell counts, likely reflecting a redistribution of these cells to lymphoid tissues. GH remains unchanged. In conclusion, closed-loop stimulation of SOs is an easy-to-use tool for probing SWS functions, and might also bear the potential to ameliorate conditions like depression and aging, where disturbed sleep coalesces with specific hormonal and immunological dysregulations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.