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Human consciousness is supported by dynamic complex patterns of brain signal coordination.

ABSTRACT: Adopting the framework of brain dynamics as a cornerstone of human consciousness, we determined whether dynamic signal coordination provides specific and generalizable patterns pertaining to conscious and unconscious states after brain damage. A dynamic pattern of coordinated and anticoordinated functional magnetic resonance imaging signals characterized healthy individuals and minimally conscious patients. The brains of unresponsive patients showed primarily a pattern of low interareal phase coherence mainly mediated by structural connectivity, and had smaller chances to transition between patterns. The complex pattern was further corroborated in patients with covert cognition, who could perform neuroimaging mental imagery tasks, validating this pattern's implication in consciousness. Anesthesia increased the probability of the less complex pattern to equal levels, validating its implication in unconsciousness. Our results establish that consciousness rests on the brain's ability to sustain rich brain dynamics and pave the way for determining specific and generalizable fingerprints of conscious and unconscious states.

SUBMITTER: Demertzi A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6365115 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Human consciousness is supported by dynamic complex patterns of brain signal coordination.

Demertzi A A Tagliazucchi E E Dehaene S S Deco G G Barttfeld P P Raimondo F F Martial C C Fernández-Espejo D D Rohaut B B Voss H U HU Schiff N D ND Owen A M AM Laureys S S Naccache L L Sitt J D JD

Science advances 20190206 2

Adopting the framework of brain dynamics as a cornerstone of human consciousness, we determined whether dynamic signal coordination provides specific and generalizable patterns pertaining to conscious and unconscious states after brain damage. A dynamic pattern of coordinated and anticoordinated functional magnetic resonance imaging signals characterized healthy individuals and minimally conscious patients. The brains of unresponsive patients showed primarily a pattern of low interareal phase co ...[more]

PMID: 30775433

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Project description:IntroductionGiven that recent research has shown that functional connectivity is not a static phenomenon, we aim to investigate the dynamic properties of the default mode network's (DMN) connectivity in patients with disorders of consciousness.MethodsResting-state fMRI volumes of a convenience sample of 17 patients in unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and controls were reduced to a spatiotemporal point process by selecting critical time points in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Spatial clustering was performed on the extracted PCC time frames to obtain 8 different co-activation patterns (CAPs). We investigated spatial connectivity patterns positively and negatively correlated with PCC using both CAPs and standard stationary method. We calculated CAPs occurrences and the total number of frames.ResultsCompared to controls, patients showed (i) decreased within-network positive correlations and between-network negative correlations, (ii) emergence of "pathological" within-network negative correlations and between-network positive correlations (better defined with CAPs), and (iii) "pathological" increases in within-network positive correlations and between-network negative correlations (only detectable using CAPs). Patients showed decreased occurrence of DMN-like CAPs (1-2) compared to controls. No between-group differences were observed in the total number of frames CONCLUSION: CAPs reveal at a more fine-grained level the multifaceted spatial connectivity reconfiguration following the DMN disruption in UWS patients, which is more complex than previously thought and suggests alternative anatomical substrates for consciousness. BOLD fluctuations do not seem to differ between patients and controls, suggesting that BOLD response represents an intrinsic feature of the signal, and therefore that spatial configuration is more important for consciousness than BOLD activation itself. Hum Brain Mapp 39:89-103, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Human consciousness is supported by dynamic complex patterns of brain signal coordination.

Publications

Human consciousness is supported by dynamic complex patterns of brain signal coordination.

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