DMN Operational Synchrony Relates to Self-Consciousness: Evidence from Patients in Vegetative and Minimally Conscious States
A. Fingelkurts, Sergio Bagnato, Cristina Boccagni, Giuseppe Galardi
The open neuroimaging journal July 27, 2012 DOI: 10.2174/1874440001206010055 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with severe brain injuries in vegetative and minimally conscious states, compared with healthy fully self-conscious subjects |
| Measures | EEG operational synchrony analysis |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | DMN EEG operational synchrony strength was smallest or absent in vegetative state, intermediate in minimally conscious state, and highest in healthy subjects, with the frontal DMN module showing the strongest decrease as self-consciousness was lost. The authors suggest DMN functional connectivity strength may mediate self-consciousness expression and could aid assessment of self-(un)consciousness in severe brain injury. |
Abstract
The default mode network (DMN) has been consistently activated across a wide variety of self-related tasks, leading to a proposal of the DMN’s role in self-related processing. Indeed, there is limited fMRI evidence that the functional connectivity within the DMN may underlie a phenomenon referred to as self-awareness. At the same time, none of the known studies have explicitly investigated neuronal functional interactions among brain areas that comprise the DMN as a function of self-consciousness loss. To fill this gap, EEG operational synchrony analysis [1, 2] was performed in patients with severe brain injuries in vegetative and minimally conscious states to study the strength of DMN operational synchrony as a function of self-consciousness expression. We demonstrated that the strength of DMN EEG operational synchrony was smallest or even absent in patients in vegetative state, intermediate in patients in minimally conscious state and highest in healthy fully self-conscious subjects. At the same time the process of ecoupling of operations performed by neuronal assemblies that comprise the DMN was highest in patients in vegetative state, intermediate in patients in minimally conscious state and minimal in healthy fully self-conscious subjects. The DMN’s frontal EEG operational module had the strongest decrease in operational synchrony strength as a function of selfconsciousness loss, when compared with the DMN’s posterior modules. Based on these results it is suggested that the strength of DMN functional connectivity could mediate the strength of self-consciousness expression. The observed alterations similarly occurred across EEG alpha, beta1 and beta2 frequency oscillations. Presented results suggest that the EEG operational synchrony within DMN may provide an objective and accurate measure for the assessment of signs of self-(un)consciousness in these challenging patient populations. This method therefore, may complement the current diagnostic procedures for patients with severe brain injuries and, hence, the planning of a rational rehabilitation intervention.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A default mode of brain function Normal adult human brain | 2001 | Observational study | |
| Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reflects Structural Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational cohort | |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| The precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex plays a pivotal role in the default mode network: Evidence from a partial correlation network analysis Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study |
Citations in the library
Cited by 24
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Consciousness and complexity: a consilience of evidence Neuroscience of Consciousness 2021
- EEG Derived Neuronal Dynamics during Meditation: Progress and Challenges Advances in Preventive Medicine 2015
- Selfhood triumvirate: From phenomenology to brain activity and back again. Consciousness and Cognition November 1, 2020
- With great power comes great vulnerability: an ethical analysis of psychedelics’ therapeutic mechanisms proposed by the REBUS hypothesis Journal of Medical Ethics April 12, 2023
and 19 more in the library
Cites 17
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- An information integration theory of consciousness BMC Neuroscience November 2, 2004
- Consciousness as Integrated Information: a Provisional Manifesto Biological Bulletin December 1, 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
- Intrinsic Brain Activity in Altered States of Consciousness Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences May 1, 2008
and 12 more in the library