Abstract
Propagation of slow intrinsic brain activity has been widely observed in electrophysiogical studies of slow wave sleep (SWS). However, in human resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI), intrinsic activity has been understood predominantly in terms of zero-lag temporal synchrony (functional connectivity) within systems known as resting state networks (RSNs). Prior rs-fMRI studies have found that RSNs are generally preserved across wake and sleep. Here, we use a recently developed analysis technique to study propagation of infra-slow intrinsic blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals in normal adults during wake and SWS. This analysis reveals marked changes in propagation patterns in SWS vs. wake. Broadly, ordered propagation is preserved within traditionally defined RSNs but lost between RSNs. Additionally, propagation between cerebral cortex and subcortical structures reverses directions, and intra-cortical propagation becomes reorganized, especially in visual and sensorimotor cortices. These findings show that propagated rs-fMRI activity informs theoretical accounts of the neural functions of sleep.
Highlights
Sleep is a state during which interactions with the environment are greatly attenuated
Infra-slow (
We begin by computing lags for all pairs of voxels in gray matter in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data (Figure 1; Mitra et al, 2014)
Summary
Sleep is a state during which interactions with the environment are greatly attenuated. In most mammals, including humans, prolonged sleep deprivation leads to impaired performance, psychosis, and eventually death (Brown et al, 2012; Everson et al, 1989; Rechtschaffen, 1998). Sleep is attended by changes in gene expression (Abel et al, 2013; Cirelli and Tononi, 2000), neuromodulator levels (Brown et al, 2012), metabolism (Boyle et al, 1994; Braun et al, 1997), and markedly altered patterns of neural activity (Dang-Vu, 2012; Loomis et al, 1935; McCormick and Bal, 1997).
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