Increased stability and breakdown of brain effective connectivity during slow-wave sleep: mechanistic insights from whole-brain computational modelling
Recent research has found that the human sleep cycle is characterised by changes in spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity. Yet, we are still missing a mechanistic explanation of the local neuronal dynamics underlying these changes. We used whole-brain computational modelling to study the differe...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de documento: | artigo |
| Data de publicação: | 2017 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositório: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/401710 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/401710 https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04522-x |
| Access Level: | Acceso aberto |
| Palavra-chave: | Neurology Brain -- Research Neurologia Cervell -- Investigació Classificació AMS::92 Biology and other natural sciences::92C Physiological, cellular and medical topics Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Ciències de la salut::Medicina::Neurologia Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria biomèdica |
| Resumo: | Recent research has found that the human sleep cycle is characterised by changes in spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity. Yet, we are still missing a mechanistic explanation of the local neuronal dynamics underlying these changes. We used whole-brain computational modelling to study the differences in global brain functional connectivity and synchrony of fMRI activity in healthy humans during wakefulness and slow-wave sleep. We applied a whole-brain model based on the normal form of a supercritical Hopf bifurcation and studied the dynamical changes when adapting the bifurcation parameter for all brain nodes to best match wakefulness and slow-wave sleep. Furthermore, we analysed differences in effective connectivity between the two states. In addition to significant changes in functional connectivity, synchrony and metastability, this analysis revealed a significant shift of the global dynamic working point of brain dynamics, from the edge of the transition between damped to sustained oscillations during wakefulness, to a stable focus during slow-wave sleep. Moreover, we identified a significant global decrease in effective interactions during slow-wave sleep. These results suggest a mechanism for the empirical functional changes observed during slow-wave sleep, namely a global shift of the brain’s dynamic working point leading to increased stability and decreased effective connectivity. |
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