Reorganisation of Brain Hubs across Altered States of Consciousness
Deniz Vatansever, Manuel S. Schröter, Ram Adapa, Edward Bullmore, D. K. Menon, E. Stamatakis
Scientific Reports February 25, 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60258-1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Healthy participants |
| Intervention | propofol-induced sedation |
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness |
| Key findings | Reduction in rich-club connectivity strength was significantly associated with participants' performance in a semantic judgment task, indicating the importance of this feature for conscious cognition. |
Abstract
Patterns of functional interactions across distributed brain regions are suggested to provide a scaffold for the conscious processing of information, with marked topological alterations observed in loss of consciousness. However, establishing a firm link between macro-scale brain network organisation and conscious cognition requires direct investigations into neuropsychologically-relevant architectural modifications across systematic reductions in consciousness. Here we assessed both global and regional disturbances to brain graphs in a group of healthy participants across baseline resting state fMRI as well as two distinct levels of propofol-induced sedation. We found a persistent modular architecture, yet significant reorganisation of brain hubs that formed parts of a wider rich-club collective. Furthermore, the reduction in the strength of rich-club connectivity was significantly associated with the participants’ performance in a semantic judgment task, indicating the importance of this higher-order topological feature for conscious cognition. These results highlight a remarkable interplay between global and regional properties of brain functional interactions in supporting conscious cognition that is relevant to our understanding of clinical disorders of consciousness.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on altered states of consciousness, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG. 6 female, 7 male human participants | 2019 | Observational cohort | n = 13 |
| Measures of entropy and complexity in altered states of consciousness Subjects during resting wakefulness, different sleep stages, and epileptic seizures | 2017 | Observational study | |
| Altered States of Consciousness and Short-Term Psychological After-Effects Induced by the First Time Ritual Use of Ayahuasca in an Urban Context in Brazil First-time ayahuasca users in Santo Daime and União do Vegetal rituals | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 28 |
| Quantifying arousal and awareness in altered states of consciousness using interpretable deep learning Healthy individuals during sleep, individuals under general anesthesia, and patients... | 2022 | Observational cohort | n = 71 |
| Subanaesthetic ketamine and altered states of consciousness in humans Human volunteers | 2018 | Observational study | n = 15 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Effects of classic psychedelic drugs on turbulent signatures in brain dynamics Network Neuroscience 2022
- Consciousness and Energy Processing in Neural Systems. Brain Sciences November 1, 2024
- Responsiveness variability during anaesthesia relates to inherent differences in brain structure and function of the frontoparietal networks. Human Brain Mapping January 8, 2023
Cites 14
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- Functional connectivity of default mode network components: Correlation, anticorrelation, and causality Human Brain Mapping January 24, 2008
- Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience July 6, 2009
- Breakdown of within- and between-network Resting State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Connectivity during Propofol-induced Loss of Consciousness Anesthesiology September 30, 2010
- Development of the Brain's Default Mode Network from Wakefulness to Slow Wave Sleep Cerebral Cortex February 17, 2011
and 9 more in the library