K-Complex morphological alterations in insomnia disorder and their relationship with sleep state misperception

Insomnia disorder (ID) is characterized by electroencephalographic indexes of hyperarousal, often associated with the underestimation of sleep duration (i.e. sleep state misperception). Albeit non-rapid eye movement sleep K-complexes (KCs) are involved in sleep protection and arousal, only a few studies investigated their alterations in ID with heterogenous findings, and results about their possible relationship with sleep state misperception are missing. The study aims to assess KCs in ID and their relationship with sleep state misperception, also considering their correlation with sleep architecture (i.e. the large-scale organization of sleep). Nineteen ID patients (12 F; age: 42.4 ± 12.1 years) and 18 healthy controls (HC; 10 F; age: 41.6 ± 11.9 years) underwent a night of home polysomnography and completed sleep diaries upon awakening. KC density, amplitude, and area under the curve were assessed in midline frontal, central, and parietal derivations. Sleep state misperception was investigated by considering polysomnographic and subjective total sleep time (TST). We found reduced anterior KC morphology (i.e. amplitude and area under the curve) in ID patients compared to HCs, which was associated with TST underestimation. KC morphology was negatively associated with N3 latency, sleep fragmentation and arousal indexes, and positively related with N3 percentage and sleep efficiency. Our findings suggest an impaired sleep protection mechanism expressed by altered KCs morphology in ID involved in sleep state misperception. The observed correlations support the view of KC as the forerunner of slow-wave sleep and protector of sleep continuity. A better understanding of sleep-protecting mechanisms alteration as a predisposing and/or maintaining factor of ID is needed.