Loss of consciousness reduces the stability of brain hubs and the heterogeneity of brain dynamics
Low-level states of consciousness are characterized by disruptions of brain activity that sustain arousal and awareness. Yet, how structural, dynamical, local and network brain properties interplay in the different levels of consciousness is unknown. Here, we study fMRI brain dynamics from patients...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/401600 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/401600 https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02537-9 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Neurology Brain -- Research Neurologia Cervell -- Investigació Classificació AMS::92 Biology and other natural sciences::92C Physiological, cellular and medical topics Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Ciències de la salut::Medicina::Neurologia Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria biomèdica |
| Sumario: | Low-level states of consciousness are characterized by disruptions of brain activity that sustain arousal and awareness. Yet, how structural, dynamical, local and network brain properties interplay in the different levels of consciousness is unknown. Here, we study fMRI brain dynamics from patients that suffered brain injuries leading to a disorder of consciousness and from healthy subjects undergoing propofol-induced sedation. We show that pathological and pharmacological low-level states of consciousness display less recurrent, less connected and more segregated synchronization patterns than conscious state. We use whole-brain models built upon healthy and injured structural connectivity to interpret these dynamical effects. We found that low-level states of consciousness were associated with reduced network interactions, together with more homogeneous and more structurally constrained local dynamics. Notably, these changes lead the structural hub regions to lose their stability during low-level states of consciousness, thus attenuating the differences between hubs and non-hubs brain dynamics. |
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