@article{7103, abstract = {Origin and functions of intermittent transitions among sleep stages, including short awakenings and arousals, constitute a challenge to the current homeostatic framework for sleep regulation, focusing on factors modulating sleep over large time scales. Here we propose that the complex micro-architecture characterizing the sleep-wake cycle results from an underlying non-equilibrium critical dynamics, bridging collective behaviors across spatio-temporal scales. We investigate θ and δ wave dynamics in control rats and in rats with lesions of sleep-promoting neurons in the parafacial zone. We demonstrate that intermittent bursts in θ and δ rhythms exhibit a complex temporal organization, with long-range power-law correlations and a robust duality of power law (θ-bursts, active phase) and exponential-like (δ-bursts, quiescent phase) duration distributions, typical features of non-equilibrium systems self-organizing at criticality. Crucially, such temporal organization relates to anti-correlated coupling between θ- and δ-bursts, and is independent of the dominant physiologic state and lesions, a solid indication of a basic principle in sleep dynamics.}, author = {Wang, Jilin W. J. L. and Lombardi, Fabrizio and Zhang, Xiyun and Anaclet, Christelle and Ivanov, Plamen Ch.}, issn = {1553-7358}, journal = {PLoS Computational Biology}, number = {11}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {{Non-equilibrium critical dynamics of bursts in θ and δ rhythms as fundamental characteristic of sleep and wake micro-architecture}}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007268}, volume = {15}, year = {2019}, }