Sleep Europe 2026 | Local sleep and wake-like brain activity: understanding the spectrum between sleep and wakefulness

Vladyslav Vyazovskiy, PhD, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, discusses local sleep and its relevance to sleep disruption. Prof. Vyazovskiy explains that local sleep, defined as sleep-like activity in discrete brain areas during wakefulness, can occur after extreme sleep deprivation or even a normal day awake, while disrupted sleep can feature intrusions of wake-like activity. Both create a dissociated state between wake and sleep, which may explain feeling tired or unrested. He suggests that local sleep may fulfil some sleep functions, but waking unrested may reflect the brain not obtaining the global sleep it needs. This interview took place at Sleep Europe 2026 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

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