The glutamatergic α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor is involved in synaptic plasticity processes, and animal studies have demonstrated altered expression across the sleep wake cycle. Accordingly, glutamate levels are reduced during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and the rate of this decrease is positively correlated with sleep EEG slow wave activity (SWA). Here, we combined proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1 H-MRS) and high-density sleep EEG to assess if 1 H-MRS is sensitive to diurnal changes of glutamate + glutamine (GLX) in healthy young adults and if potential overnight changes of GLX are correlated to SWA. 1 H-MRS was measured in the parietal lobe in the evening and in the subsequent morning. High-density sleep EEG was recorded overnight between the evening and morning scans. Our results revealed a significant overnight reduction in GLX, but no significant changes in other metabolites. The decrease in GLX positively correlated with the decrease of SWA. Our study demonstrates that quantification of diurnal changes in GLX is possible by means of 1 H-MRS and indicates that overnight changes in GLX are related to SWA, a marker that is closely linked to the restorative function of sleep. This relationship might be of particular interest in clinical populations in which sleep is disturbed.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 August 2026.
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#11,061,246
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#140,626
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Outputs of similar age from Human Brain Mapping
#34
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Altmetric has tracked 33,729,289 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 66th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,928 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 10.1. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 53% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 80 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 57% of its contemporaries.
