PGO Waves - Detection of PGO Waves

Detection of PGO Waves

In the original experiments, PGO waves (or P waves in rodent models) are found by placing electrodes inside the brain, next to either the pons, lateral geniculate nuclei, or occipital lobe. Along with electroencephalography (EEG) recording techniques, scientists are also able to show the correlation between other brain waves associated with REM sleep and PGO waves.

Although scientists know they exist, PGO waves have not been detected in healthy humans due to the ethical concerns about accessing these areas where the readings need to be taken from. However, advances in deep brain stimulation has made it possible to put electrodes inside the brains of humans with different pathologies and make EEG recordings of different nuclei. Due to the similarities with the animal models, we can infer that PGO waves are happening at the same frequency in human EEGs. Thus, scientists can infer that PGO waves exist in humans.