Multiscale dynamical characterization of cortical brain states: from synchrony to asynchrony
Maria V. Sanchez-Vives, Arnau Manasanch, Andrea Pigorini, Alessandro Arena, Alessandra Camassa, Bjørn Erik Juel, Leonardo Dalla Porta, Cristiano Capone, Chiara de Luca, Giulia de Bonis, Jennifer Goldman, Maria Sacha, Andrea Galluzzi, Antonio Pazienti, Ezequiel Mikulan, Johann F Storm, Pier Stanislao Paolucci, Marcello Massimini, Maurizio Mattia, Alain Destexhe
arXiv Preprint Archive October 7, 2025 via arXiv
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe cerebral cortex generates diverse patterns of activity that shift across brain states such as sleep, wakefulness, anesthesia, and disorders of consciousness, yet a unified definition of brain states remains elusive. This review focuses on two extremes: synchronous states, which predominantly underlie unconsciousness, and asynchronous states, which predominantly underlie consciousness, though exceptions exist. The authors integrate data across levels from local circuits to whole-brain dynamics, examining properties like cortical complexity, functional connectivity, synchronization, wave propagation, and excitatory-inhibitory balance. They make experimental and clinical data, as well as computational models at micro-, meso-, and macrocortical levels, available to readers.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Q-bio.nc |
| Key finding | Argues that synchronous and asynchronous brain states predominantly underlie unconsciousness and consciousness, respectively, and that integrating data across scales from local circuits to whole-brain dynamics is key to understanding these states. |
Abstract
The cerebral cortex spontaneously displays different patterns of activity that evolve over time according to the brain state. Sleep, wakefulness, resting states, and attention are examples of a wide spectrum of physiological states that can be sustained by the same structural network. Furthermore, additional states are generated by drugs (e.g., different levels of anesthesia) or by pathological conditions (e.g., brain lesions, disorders of consciousness). While the significance of understanding brain states in relation to brain dynamics and behavior has become increasingly evident over the past two decades, a unified definition of brain states remains elusive. In this review, we focus on two extremes of this spectrum: synchronous versus asynchronous states. These functional states predominantly underlie unconsciousness and consciousness, respectively, although exceptions exist. Our aim is to integrate data from different levels into a multiscale understanding, ranging from local circuits to whole-brain dynamics, including properties such as cortical complexity, functional connectivity, synchronization, wave propagation, and excitatory-inhibitory balance that vary across states and characterize them. Experimental and clinical data, as well as computational models (at micro-, meso-, and macrocortical levels) associated with the discussed brain states, are made available to readers.