Sleep Neuroimaging and Models of Consciousness
Enzo Tagliazucchi, Marion Behrens, Helmut Laufs
Frontiers in Psychology 2013 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00256 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Consciousness Phenomenology philosophy Cognitive psychology Cognitive science Functional neuroimaging Wakefulness Resting State FMRI Electroencephalography Cognition Epistemology |
| Citations | 42 |
| Key findings | Deep sleep provides an empirical test for theoretical models of consciousness, and recent fMRI studies of spontaneous activity support predictions from global workspace theory, information integration theory, and the dynamical core hypothesis. |
Abstract
Human deep sleep is characterized by reduced sensory activity, responsiveness to stimuli, and conscious awareness. Given its ubiquity and reversible nature, it represents an attractive paradigm to study the neural changes which accompany the loss of consciousness in humans. In particular, the deepest stages of sleep can serve as an empirical test for the predictions of theoretical models relating the phenomenology of consciousness with underlying neural activity. A relatively recent shift of attention from the analysis of evoked responses toward spontaneous (or "resting state") activity has taken place in the neuroimaging community, together with the development of tools suitable to study distributed functional interactions. In this review we focus on recent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies of spontaneous activity during sleep and their relationship with theoretical models for human consciousness generation, considering the global workspace theory, the information integration theory, and the dynamical core hypothesis. We discuss the venues of research opened by these results, emphasizing the need to extend the analytic methodology in order to obtain a dynamical picture of how functional interactions change over time and how their evolution is modulated during different conscious states. Finally, we discuss the need to experimentally establish absent or reduced conscious content, even when studying the deepest sleep stages.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Brain's Default Mode Network | 2015 | Review | |
| Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity in Psychopathology | 2012 | Review | |
| 20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesis | 2023 | Review | |
| On the relationship between the “default mode network” and the “social brain” | 2012 | Review | |
| The default mode network and social understanding of others: what do brain connectivity studies tell us Healthy subjects, with some studies on patients with autism and psychopathy | 2014 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 16
- Enhanced repertoire of brain dynamical states during the psychedelic experience Human Brain Mapping July 3, 2014
- Dynamic functional connectivity and brain metastability during altered states of consciousness Neuroimage October 3, 2017
- Higher-order sensorimotor circuit of the brain's global network supports human consciousness. Neuroimage May 1, 2021
- Wakefulness fluctuations elicit behavioural and neural reconfiguration of awareness bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) June 26, 2017
- Similarities and differences between natural sleep and urethane anesthesia. Scientific Reports May 25, 2025
and 11 more in the library
Cites 19
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reflects Structural Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Cerebral Cortex April 9, 2008
- An information integration theory of consciousness BMC Neuroscience November 2, 2004
- Breakdown of Cortical Effective Connectivity During Sleep Science September 29, 2005
- Consciousness as Integrated Information: a Provisional Manifesto Biological Bulletin December 1, 2008
and 14 more in the library