Sleep Modulation: The Challenge of Transitioning from Open Loop to Closed Loop

Abstract

Sleep disorders have emerged as a critical global health issue, highlighting the urgent need for effective and widely accessible intervention technologies. Non-invasive brain stimulation has garnered attention as it enables direct or indirect modulation of neural activity, thereby promoting sleep enhancement in a safe and unobtrusive manner. This class of approaches is collectively referred to as sleep modulation. To date, the majority of sleep modulation research relies on open-loop paradigms with empirically determined parameters, while achieving individual adaptation and modulation accuracy remains a distant objective. The paradigm-specific constraints inherent to open-loop designs represent a major obstacle to clinical translation and large-scale deployment in home environments. In this paper, we delineate fundamental paradigms of sleep modulation, critically examine the intrinsic limitations of open-loop approaches, and formally conceptualize sleep closed-loop modulation. We further provide a comprehensive synthesis of prior studies involving five commonly employed modulation techniques, evaluating their potential integration within a closed-loop framework. Finally, we identify three primary challenges in constructing an effective sleep closed-loop modulation system: sensor solution selection, monitoring model design, and modulation strategy design, while also proposing potential solutions. Collectively, this work aims to advance the paradigm shift of sleep modulation from open-loop toward closed-loop systems.