RT Journal
A1 Studler, Mirjam
A1 Gianotti, Lorena R. R.
A1 Lobmaier, Janek
A1 Maric, Angelina
A1 Knoch, Daria
T1 Human Prosocial Preferences Are Related to Slow-Wave Activity in Sleep
JF The Journal of Neuroscience 
JO The Journal of Neuroscience 
YR 2024 
FD April 10 
VO 44 
IS 15 
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0885-23.2024 
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/44/15/e0885232024.abstract 
AB Prosocial behavior is crucial for the smooth functioning of the society. Yet, individuals differ vastly in the propensity to behave prosocially. Here, we try to explain these individual differences under normal sleep conditions without any experimental modulation of sleep. Using a portable high-density EEG, we measured the sleep data in 54 healthy adults (28 females) during a normal night's sleep at the participants' homes. To capture prosocial preferences, participants played an incentivized public goods game in which they faced real monetary consequences. The whole-brain analyses showed that a higher relative slow-wave activity (SWA, an indicator of sleep depth) in a cluster of electrodes over the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) was associated with increased prosocial preferences. Source localization and current source density analyses further support these findings. Recent sleep deprivation studies imply that sleeping enough makes us more prosocial; the present findings suggest that it is not only sleep duration, but particularly sufficient sleep depth in the TPJ that is positively related to prosociality. Because the TPJ plays a central role in social cognitive functions, we speculate that sleep depth in the TPJ, as reflected by relative SWA, might serve as a dispositional indicator of social cognition ability, which is reflected in prosocial preferences. These findings contribute to the emerging framework explaining the link between sleep and prosocial behavior by shedding light on the underlying mechanisms.