Network dynamics scale with levels of awareness

Peter Coppola; Lennart R B Spindler; Andrea I Luppi; Ram Adapa; Lorina Naci; Judith Allanson; Paola Finoia; Guy B Williams; John D Pickard; Adrian M Owen; David K Menon; Emmanuel A Stamatakis

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119128

Network dynamics scale with levels of awareness

Neuroimage. 2022 Jul 1:254:119128. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119128. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.
² Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Division of Neurosurgery, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.
³ Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Lloyd Building, Dublin 2, Ireland.
⁴ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Department of Neurosciences, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Hills Rd., Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK.
⁵ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Box 65), Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.
⁶ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Division of Neurosurgery, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Box 65), Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.
⁷ The Brain and Mind Institute, Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada.
⁸ Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Box 65), Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.
⁹ Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK. Electronic address: eas46@cam.ac.uk.

PMID: 35331869
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119128

Abstract

Small world topologies are thought to provide a valuable insight into human brain organisation and consciousness. However, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in consciousness have not yielded consistent results. Given the importance of dynamics for both consciousness and cognition, here we investigate how the diversity of small world dynamics (quantified by sample entropy; dSW-E¹) scales with decreasing levels of awareness (i.e., sedation and disorders of consciousness). Paying particular attention to result reproducibility, we show that dSW-E is a consistent predictor of levels of awareness even when controlling for the underlying functional connectivity dynamics. We find that dSW-E of subcortical, and cortical areas are predictive, with the former showing higher and more robust effect sizes across analyses. We find that the network dynamics of intermodular communication in the cerebellum also have unique predictive power for levels of awareness. Consequently, we propose that the dynamic reorganisation of the functional information architecture, in particular of the subcortex, is a characteristic that emerges with awareness and has explanatory power beyond that of the complexity of dynamic functional connectivity.

Keywords: Cerebellum; Consciousness; Network dynamics; Network science; Participation coefficient; Small world; Subcortex.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain
Consciousness*
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Nerve Net* / diagnostic imaging
Reproducibility of Results

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding