PhD Scientific Days 2026

Mental Health Sciences 4.

Spindle Dynamics: The Interacting Effects of Development, Procedural Learning, and NREM Sleep

Előadó neve

Mr. Bocskai, Gábor

Neptune code

LBHQ2V

Előadó munkahelye

Semmelweis University Doctoral School, Division of Mental Health Sciences, Hungary,

Előadó telefonszáma

+36309520807

Előadó e-mail címe

bocskai.gabor@phd.semmelweis.hu

Az előadás címe

Spindle Dynamics: The Interacting Effects of Development, Procedural Learning, and NREM Sleep

Szerző(k) neve és munkahelye

Gábor Bocskai¹, Prof. Dr. Ilona Kovács²

1: Semmelweis University Doctoral School, Division of Mental Health Sciences, Hungary,
2: HUN-REN-ELTE-PPKE Adolescent Development Research Group Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University

Bemutatás módja

Szóbeli

Szekció

Mental Health Sciences 4.

Language of the presentation

English

Preferred session

Mental Health Sciences

Összefoglaló szövege

Introduction
NREM sleep spindles are sensitive markers of brain maturation and cortical plasticity. Their spontaneous age-related and training-related dynamics may reveal how hierarchical cortical organisation becomes increasingly specialised.
Aims We examined whether frontally dominant slow and centroparietally dominant fast spindles show distinct age-dependent developmental and topographical trajectories (Bocskai et al., 2022; Gombos et al., 2022). Our other focus was on the temporal organisation of sleep spindle occurrence and the reorganisation induced by procedural visual training reflecting task-specific cortical plasticity and strengthening hierarchical organisation (Gerván et al., 2025).

Methods
We analysed HD-EEG full night sleep recordings in 60 12-16-20 year-old and 39 16–20-year-old participants respectively. Between recordings, participants completed three sessions of visual procedural training followed by morning retest. In NREM sleep, conventional spindle measures as well as clustering and rhythmicity parameters were quantified for bimodal spindles.

Results
Frontal and centroparietal dominance of spindles significantly shaped spindle parameters. Both types showed similar age-related changes in duration and maximum amplitude, whereas density showed no significant decrease. Frequency increased significantly with age, with higher values and steeper acceleration in females. Age effects showed spindle-type-specific topographical patterns. Following training, only fast spindles showed significant reorganisation in clustering and rhythmicity, most prominently over task-relevant cortical regions.

Conclusion
Sleep spindle maturation is age-dependent, spindle-type-specific, and regionally differentiated, consistent with progressive hierarchical specialisation of the cortex. The selective training-related reorganisation of fast spindles further indicates that NREM spindle dynamics sensitively index procedural-task-dependent plasticity in functionally specialised cortical networks.

Funding
The project was funded by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Office of Hungary (Grants NRLN NK-104481 and K-134370 to I.K.), by the Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN-ELTE-PPKE Adolescent Development Research Group), and the PPKE-BTK-KUT-23-1 project funding by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Pázmány Péter Catholic University.

University

Semmelweis University

Supervisor

Prof. Dr. Ilona Kovács

Publication of my abstract

I do not give consent to the publication of my abstract on the website of the congress.

phd.section.field

after finishing doctoral studies with absolutorium (PhD)

Kind

Szabad

Status

elfogadva

Accepted presentation method

szóbeli

Előadás fájl jóváhagyás

nem hagyta jóvá

Előadó

8102

Start

15:45

End

15:55