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Lewis-Healey E, Tagliazucchi E, Canales-Johnson A, Bekinschtein TA. Breathwork-induced psychedelic experiences modulate neural dynamics. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae347. [PMID: 39191666 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2024] [Revised: 08/01/2024] [Accepted: 08/12/2024] [Indexed: 08/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Breathwork is an understudied school of practices involving intentional respiratory modulation to induce an altered state of consciousness (ASC). We simultaneously investigate the phenomenological and neural dynamics of breathwork by combining Temporal Experience Tracing, a quantitative methodology that preserves the temporal dynamics of subjective experience, with low-density portable EEG devices. Fourteen novice participants completed a course of up to 28 breathwork sessions-of 20, 40, or 60 min-in 28 days, yielding a neurophenomenological dataset of 301 breathwork sessions. Using hypothesis-driven and data-driven approaches, we found that "psychedelic-like" subjective experiences were associated with increased neural Lempel-Ziv complexity during breathwork. Exploratory analyses showed that the aperiodic exponent of the power spectral density-but not oscillatory alpha power-yielded similar neurophenomenological associations. Non-linear neural features, like complexity and the aperiodic exponent, neurally map both a multidimensional data-driven composite of positive experiences, and hypothesis-driven aspects of psychedelic-like experience states such as high bliss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan Lewis-Healey
- Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, Downing Place, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Enzo Tagliazucchi
- Consciousness, Culture and Complexity Lab, Department of Physics, Pabellón I, University of Buenos Aires, 1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, 7910000, Chile
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center, Universidad de San Andrés, Vito Dumas 284, B1644BID Victoria, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Andres Canales-Johnson
- Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, Downing Place, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
- The Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neurosciences Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Católica del Maule, 3460000, Talca, Chile
| | - Tristan A Bekinschtein
- Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, Downing Place, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
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2
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Whyte CJ, Redinbaugh MJ, Shine JM, Saalmann YB. Thalamic contributions to the state and contents of consciousness. Neuron 2024; 112:1611-1625. [PMID: 38754373 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Consciousness can be conceptualized as varying along at least two dimensions: the global state of consciousness and the content of conscious experience. Here, we highlight the cellular and systems-level contributions of the thalamus to conscious state and then argue for thalamic contributions to conscious content, including the integrated, segregated, and continuous nature of our experience. We underscore vital, yet distinct roles for core- and matrix-type thalamic neurons. Through reciprocal interactions with deep-layer cortical neurons, matrix neurons support wakefulness and determine perceptual thresholds, whereas the cortical interactions of core neurons maintain content and enable perceptual constancy. We further propose that conscious integration, segregation, and continuity depend on the convergent nature of corticothalamic projections enabling dimensionality reduction, a thalamic reticular nucleus-mediated divisive normalization-like process, and sustained coherent activity in thalamocortical loops, respectively. Overall, we conclude that the thalamus plays a central topological role in brain structures controlling conscious experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Whyte
- Centre for Complex Systems, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - James M Shine
- Centre for Complex Systems, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Yuri B Saalmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, Madison, WI, USA
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3
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Fuhrer J, Glette K, Llorens A, Endestad T, Solbakk AK, Blenkmann AO. Quantifying evoked responses through information-theoretical measures. Front Neuroinform 2023; 17:1128866. [PMID: 37287586 PMCID: PMC10242156 DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2023.1128866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Information theory is a viable candidate to advance our understanding of how the brain processes information generated in the internal or external environment. With its universal applicability, information theory enables the analysis of complex data sets, is free of requirements about the data structure, and can help infer the underlying brain mechanisms. Information-theoretical metrics such as Entropy or Mutual Information have been highly beneficial for analyzing neurophysiological recordings. However, a direct comparison of the performance of these methods with well-established metrics, such as the t-test, is rare. Here, such a comparison is carried out by evaluating the novel method of Encoded Information with Mutual Information, Gaussian Copula Mutual Information, Neural Frequency Tagging, and t-test. We do so by applying each method to event-related potentials and event-related activity in different frequency bands originating from intracranial electroencephalography recordings of humans and marmoset monkeys. Encoded Information is a novel procedure that assesses the similarity of brain responses across experimental conditions by compressing the respective signals. Such an information-based encoding is attractive whenever one is interested in detecting where in the brain condition effects are present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Fuhrer
- RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Kyrre Glette
- RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anaïs Llorens
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Tor Endestad
- RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anne-Kristin Solbakk
- RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Neuropsychology, Helgeland Hospital, Mosjøen, Norway
| | - Alejandro Omar Blenkmann
- RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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4
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Canales-Johnson A, Beerendonk L, Chennu S, Davidson MJ, Ince RAA, van Gaal S. Feedback information sharing in the human brain reflects bistable perception in the absence of report. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002120. [PMID: 37155704 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In the search for the neural basis of conscious experience, perception and the cognitive processes associated with reporting perception are typically confounded as neural activity is recorded while participants explicitly report what they experience. Here, we present a novel way to disentangle perception from report using eye movement analysis techniques based on convolutional neural networks and neurodynamical analyses based on information theory. We use a bistable visual stimulus that instantiates two well-known properties of conscious perception: integration and differentiation. At any given moment, observers either perceive the stimulus as one integrated unitary object or as two differentiated objects that are clearly distinct from each other. Using electroencephalography, we show that measures of integration and differentiation based on information theory closely follow participants' perceptual experience of those contents when switches were reported. We observed increased information integration between anterior to posterior electrodes (front to back) prior to a switch to the integrated percept, and higher information differentiation of anterior signals leading up to reporting the differentiated percept. Crucially, information integration was closely linked to perception and even observed in a no-report condition when perceptual transitions were inferred from eye movements alone. In contrast, the link between neural differentiation and perception was observed solely in the active report condition. Our results, therefore, suggest that perception and the processes associated with report require distinct amounts of anterior-posterior network communication and anterior information differentiation. While front-to-back directed information is associated with changes in the content of perception when viewing bistable visual stimuli, regardless of report, frontal information differentiation was absent in the no-report condition and therefore is not directly linked to perception per se.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andres Canales-Johnson
- Conscious Brain Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neurosciences Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile
| | - Lola Beerendonk
- Conscious Brain Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Srivas Chennu
- School of Computing, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
| | | | - Robin A A Ince
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Simon van Gaal
- Conscious Brain Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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5
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Melland P, Curtu R. Attractor-Like Dynamics Extracted from Human Electrocorticographic Recordings Underlie Computational Principles of Auditory Bistable Perception. J Neurosci 2023; 43:3294-3311. [PMID: 36977581 PMCID: PMC10162465 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1531-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
In bistable perception, observers experience alternations between two interpretations of an unchanging stimulus. Neurophysiological studies of bistable perception typically partition neural measurements into stimulus-based epochs and assess neuronal differences between epochs based on subjects' perceptual reports. Computational studies replicate statistical properties of percept durations with modeling principles like competitive attractors or Bayesian inference. However, bridging neuro-behavioral findings with modeling theory requires the analysis of single-trial dynamic data. Here, we propose an algorithm for extracting nonstationary timeseries features from single-trial electrocorticography (ECoG) data. We applied the proposed algorithm to 5-min ECoG recordings from human primary auditory cortex obtained during perceptual alternations in an auditory triplet streaming task (six subjects: four male, two female). We report two ensembles of emergent neuronal features in all trial blocks. One ensemble consists of periodic functions that encode a stereotypical response to the stimulus. The other comprises more transient features and encodes dynamics associated with bistable perception at multiple time scales: minutes (within-trial alternations), seconds (duration of individual percepts), and milliseconds (switches between percepts). Within the second ensemble, we identified a slowly drifting rhythm that correlates with the perceptual states and several oscillators with phase shifts near perceptual switches. Projections of single-trial ECoG data onto these features establish low-dimensional attractor-like geometric structures invariant across subjects and stimulus types. These findings provide supporting neural evidence for computational models with oscillatory-driven attractor-based principles. The feature extraction techniques described here generalize across recording modality and are appropriate when hypothesized low-dimensional dynamics characterize an underlying neural system.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Irrespective of the sensory modality, neurophysiological studies of multistable perception have typically investigated events time-locked to the perceptual switching rather than the time course of the perceptual states per se. Here, we propose an algorithm that extracts neuronal features of bistable auditory perception from largescale single-trial data while remaining agnostic to the subject's perceptual reports. The algorithm captures the dynamics of perception at multiple timescales, minutes (within-trial alternations), seconds (durations of individual percepts), and milliseconds (timing of switches), and distinguishes attributes of neural encoding of the stimulus from those encoding the perceptual states. Finally, our analysis identifies a set of latent variables that exhibit alternating dynamics along a low-dimensional manifold, similar to trajectories in attractor-based models for perceptual bistability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pake Melland
- Department of Mathematics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275
- Applied Mathematical & Computational Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
| | - Rodica Curtu
- Department of Mathematics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
- The Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
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6
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Vinck M, Uran C, Spyropoulos G, Onorato I, Broggini AC, Schneider M, Canales-Johnson A. Principles of large-scale neural interactions. Neuron 2023; 111:987-1002. [PMID: 37023720 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
What mechanisms underlie flexible inter-areal communication in the cortex? We consider four mechanisms for temporal coordination and their contributions to communication: (1) Oscillatory synchronization (communication-through-coherence); (2) communication-through-resonance; (3) non-linear integration; and (4) linear signal transmission (coherence-through-communication). We discuss major challenges for communication-through-coherence based on layer- and cell-type-specific analyses of spike phase-locking, heterogeneity of dynamics across networks and states, and computational models for selective communication. We argue that resonance and non-linear integration are viable alternative mechanisms that facilitate computation and selective communication in recurrent networks. Finally, we consider communication in relation to cortical hierarchy and critically examine the hypothesis that feedforward and feedback communication use fast (gamma) and slow (alpha/beta) frequencies, respectively. Instead, we propose that feedforward propagation of prediction errors relies on the non-linear amplification of aperiodic transients, whereas gamma and beta rhythms represent rhythmic equilibrium states that facilitate sustained and efficient information encoding and amplification of short-range feedback via resonance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Vinck
- Ernst Struengmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Donders Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurophysics, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | - Cem Uran
- Ernst Struengmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Donders Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurophysics, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Georgios Spyropoulos
- Ernst Struengmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Irene Onorato
- Ernst Struengmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Donders Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurophysics, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Ana Clara Broggini
- Ernst Struengmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Marius Schneider
- Ernst Struengmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Donders Centre for Neuroscience, Department of Neurophysics, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Andres Canales-Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EB Cambridge, UK; Centro de Investigacion en Neuropsicologia y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Catolica del Maule, 3480122 Talca, Chile.
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7
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Higgins NC, Scurry AN, Jiang F, Little DF, Alain C, Elhilali M, Snyder JS. Adaptation in the sensory cortex drives bistable switching during auditory stream segregation. Neurosci Conscious 2023; 2023:niac019. [PMID: 36751309 PMCID: PMC9899071 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niac019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/26/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Current theories of perception emphasize the role of neural adaptation, inhibitory competition, and noise as key components that lead to switches in perception. Supporting evidence comes from neurophysiological findings of specific neural signatures in modality-specific and supramodal brain areas that appear to be critical to switches in perception. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study brain activity around the time of switches in perception while participants listened to a bistable auditory stream segregation stimulus, which can be heard as one integrated stream of tones or two segregated streams of tones. The auditory thalamus showed more activity around the time of a switch from segregated to integrated compared to time periods of stable perception of integrated; in contrast, the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and the inferior parietal lobule showed more activity around the time of a switch from integrated to segregated compared to time periods of stable perception of segregated streams, consistent with prior findings of asymmetries in brain activity depending on the switch direction. In sound-responsive areas in the auditory cortex, neural activity increased in strength preceding switches in perception and declined in strength over time following switches in perception. Such dynamics in the auditory cortex are consistent with the role of adaptation proposed by computational models of visual and auditory bistable switching, whereby the strength of neural activity decreases following a switch in perception, which eventually destabilizes the current percept enough to lead to a switch to an alternative percept.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan C Higgins
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, PCD1017, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Alexandra N Scurry
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, 1664 N. Virginia Street Mail Stop 0296, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Fang Jiang
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, 1664 N. Virginia Street Mail Stop 0296, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - David F Little
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Claude Alain
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M6A 2E1, Canada
| | - Mounya Elhilali
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Joel S Snyder
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, 4505 Maryland Parkway Mail Stop 5030, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
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8
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Conscious interpretation: A distinct aspect for the neural markers of the contents of consciousness. Conscious Cogn 2023; 108:103471. [PMID: 36736210 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Progress in the science of consciousness depends on the experimental paradigms and varieties of contrastive analysis available to researchers. Here we highlight paradigms where the object is represented in consciousness as a set of its features but the interpretation of this set alternates in consciousness. We group experimental paradigms with this property under the label "conscious interpretation". We compare the paradigms studying conscious interpretation of the already consciously perceived objects with other types of experimental paradigms. We review previous and recent studies investigating this interpretative aspect of consciousness and propose future directions. We put forward the hypothesis that there are types of stimuli with a hierarchy of interpretations for which the rule applies: conscious experience is drawn towards higher-level interpretation and reverting back to the lower level of interpretation is impossible. We discuss how theories of consciousness might incorporate knowledge and constraints arising from the characteristics of conscious interpretation.
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9
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Perceptual Awareness and Its Relationship with Consciousness: Hints from Perceptual Multistability. NEUROSCI 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/neurosci3040039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Many interesting theories of consciousness have been proposed, but so far, there is no “unified” theory capable of encompassing all aspects of this phenomenon. We are all aware of what it feels like to be conscious and what happens if there is an absence of consciousness. We are becoming more and more skilled in measuring consciousness states; nevertheless, we still “don’t get it” in its deeper essence. How does all the processed information converge from different brain areas and structures to a common unity, giving us this very private “feeling of being conscious”, despite the constantly changing flow of information between internal and external states? “Multistability” refers to a class of perceptual phenomena where subjective awareness spontaneously and continuously alternates between different percepts, although the objective stimuli do not change, supporting the idea that the brain “interprets” sensorial input in a “constructive” way. In this perspective paper, multistability and perceptual awareness are discussed as a methodological window for understanding the “local” states of consciousness, a privileged position from which it is possible to observe the brain dynamics and mechanisms producing the subjective phenomena of perceptual awareness in the very moment they are happening.
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10
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Koculak M, Wierzchoń M. How much consciousness is there in complexity? Front Psychol 2022; 13:983315. [PMID: 36204731 PMCID: PMC9530911 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.983315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The notion of complexity currently receives significant attention in neuroscience, mainly through the popularity of the Integrated Information Theory (IIT). It has proven successful in research centred on discriminating states of consciousness, while little theoretical and experimental effort was directed toward studying the content. In this paper, we argue that exploring the relationship between complexity and conscious content is necessary to understand the importance of information-theoretic measures for consciousness research properly. We outline how content could be experimentally operationalised and how rudimental testable hypotheses can be formulated without requiring IIT formalisms. This approach would not only allow for a better understanding of aspects of consciousness captured by complexity but could also facilitate comparison efforts for theories of consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcin Koculak
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
- Centre for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Michał Wierzchoń
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
- Centre for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
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11
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Fuhrer J, Blenkmann A, Endestad T, Solbakk AK, Glette K. Complexity-based Encoded Information Quantification in Neurophysiological Recordings. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2022; 2022:2319-2323. [PMID: 36086266 DOI: 10.1109/embc48229.2022.9871501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Brain activity differs vastly between sleep, cognitive tasks, and action. Information theory is an appropriate concept to analytically quantify these brain states. Based on neurophysiological recordings, this concept can handle complex data sets, is free of any requirements about the data structure, and can infer the present underlying brain mechanisms. Specifically, by utilizing algorithmic information theory, it is possible to estimate the absolute information contained in brain responses. While current approaches that apply this theory to neurophysiological recordings can discriminate between different brain states, they are limited in directly quantifying the degree of similarity or encoded information between brain responses. Here, we propose a method grounded in algorithmic information theory that affords direct statements about responses' similarity by estimating the encoded information through a compression-based scheme. We validated this method by applying it to both synthetic and real neurophysiological data and compared its efficiency to the mutual information measure. This proposed procedure is especially suited for task paradigms contrasting different event types because it can precisely quantify the similarity of neuronal responses.
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12
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Mediano PAM, Rosas FE, Bor D, Seth AK, Barrett AB. The strength of weak integrated information theory. Trends Cogn Sci 2022; 26:646-655. [PMID: 35659757 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The integrated information theory of consciousness (IIT) is divisive: while some believe it provides an unprecedentedly powerful approach to address the 'hard problem', others dismiss it on grounds that it is untestable. We argue that the appeal and applicability of IIT can be greatly widened if we distinguish two flavours of the theory: strong IIT, which identifies consciousness with specific properties associated with maxima of integrated information; and weak IIT, which tests pragmatic hypotheses relating aspects of consciousness to broader measures of information dynamics. We review challenges for strong IIT, explain how existing empirical findings are well explained by weak IIT without needing to commit to the entirety of strong IIT, and discuss the outlook for both flavours of IIT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro A M Mediano
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
| | - Fernando E Rosas
- Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, London, UK; Data Science Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK; Centre for Complexity Science, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Daniel Bor
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Anil K Seth
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK; CIFAR Program on Brain, Mind, and Consciousness, Toronto, Canada
| | - Adam B Barrett
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK; The Data Intensive Science Centre, Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
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13
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Hardstone R, Zhu M, Flinker A, Melloni L, Devore S, Friedman D, Dugan P, Doyle WK, Devinsky O, He BJ. Long-term priors influence visual perception through recruitment of long-range feedback. Nat Commun 2021; 12:6288. [PMID: 34725348 PMCID: PMC8560909 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26544-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Perception results from the interplay of sensory input and prior knowledge. Despite behavioral evidence that long-term priors powerfully shape perception, the neural mechanisms underlying these interactions remain poorly understood. We obtained direct cortical recordings in neurosurgical patients as they viewed ambiguous images that elicit constant perceptual switching. We observe top-down influences from the temporal to occipital cortex, during the preferred percept that is congruent with the long-term prior. By contrast, stronger feedforward drive is observed during the non-preferred percept, consistent with a prediction error signal. A computational model based on hierarchical predictive coding and attractor networks reproduces all key experimental findings. These results suggest a pattern of large-scale information flow change underlying long-term priors' influence on perception and provide constraints on theories about long-term priors' influence on perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Hardstone
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Michael Zhu
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Adeen Flinker
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Lucia Melloni
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Sasha Devore
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Daniel Friedman
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Patricia Dugan
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Werner K Doyle
- Department of Neurosurgery, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Orrin Devinsky
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Biyu J He
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
- Department of Radiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
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14
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Neural Alterations in Interpersonal Distance (IPD) Cognition and Its Correlation with IPD Behavior: A Systematic Review. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11081015. [PMID: 34439634 PMCID: PMC8394299 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11081015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background. Interpersonal distance (IPD) plays a critical role in a human being’s social life, especially during interpersonal interaction, and IPD is non-verbal social information and not only provides silent cues but also provides a secure space for personal relationships. IPD has been a research field of neural studies from the recent decade, researches had provided behavior and neural correlates of IPD. Objectives. This review aims to summarize the experimental paradigms of IPD-neural research, to reveal the neural activity processes associated with it, and to explore the correlation between IPD-neural activity and IPD-behavior. Methods. We conducted a standardized systematic review procedure, including the formal search method be adopted to seek out any type of studies related to IPD and brain, then devised them into categories to make a systematic review. Results. 17 articles met the inclusion criteria of the review, 5 event-related potential (ERP) studies measured the amplitude and latencies of ERPs, and 12 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies provided the neural activation during IPD tasks. In addition, the passive IPD experimental paradigm is the main experimental paradigm for exploring neural activity in IPD cognition, with the parietal lobe, motor areas, prefrontal lobe, and amygdala being the main brain areas involved. Functional connections between the identified brain regions were found and have a moderate correlation with IPD behavior. Conclusions. This review provides the neural activity of the IPD interaction process. However, the insufficient ecological validity of IPD tasks and ignore the initiative of people in IPD interaction. Therefore, there is a large research space on this topic. The work of the current systematic review contributed to linking the external performance and inner neural activities of IPD.
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15
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Canales-Johnson A, Lanfranco RC, Morales JP, Martínez-Pernía D, Valdés J, Ezquerro-Nassar A, Rivera-Rei Á, Ibanez A, Chennu S, Bekinschtein TA, Huepe D, Noreika V. In your phase: neural phase synchronisation underlies visual imagery of faces. Sci Rep 2021; 11:2401. [PMID: 33504828 PMCID: PMC7840739 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81336-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Mental imagery is the process through which we retrieve and recombine information from our memory to elicit the subjective impression of “seeing with the mind’s eye”. In the social domain, we imagine other individuals while recalling our encounters with them or modelling alternative social interactions in future. Many studies using imaging and neurophysiological techniques have shown several similarities in brain activity between visual imagery and visual perception, and have identified frontoparietal, occipital and temporal neural components of visual imagery. However, the neural connectivity between these regions during visual imagery of socially relevant stimuli has not been studied. Here we used electroencephalography to investigate neural connectivity and its dynamics between frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal electrodes during visual imagery of faces. We found that voluntary visual imagery of faces is associated with long-range phase synchronisation in the gamma frequency range between frontoparietal electrode pairs and between occipitoparietal electrode pairs. In contrast, no effect of imagery was observed in the connectivity between occipitotemporal electrode pairs. Gamma range synchronisation between occipitoparietal electrode pairs predicted subjective ratings of the contour definition of imagined faces. Furthermore, we found that visual imagery of faces is associated with an increase of short-range frontal synchronisation in the theta frequency range, which temporally preceded the long-range increase in the gamma synchronisation. We speculate that the local frontal synchrony in the theta frequency range might be associated with an effortful top-down mnemonic reactivation of faces. In contrast, the long-range connectivity in the gamma frequency range along the fronto-parieto-occipital axis might be related to the endogenous binding and subjective clarity of facial visual features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés Canales-Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. .,Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Posgrado, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile.
| | - Renzo C Lanfranco
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.,Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Juan Pablo Morales
- Facultad de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - Joaquín Valdés
- Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | | | | | - Agustín Ibanez
- Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile.,Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Latin American Institute of Brain Health (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia.,Cognitive Neurosience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), University of California San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, USA
| | - Srivas Chennu
- School of Computing, University of Kent, Chatham Maritime, UK.,Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - David Huepe
- Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Valdas Noreika
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK.,Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
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16
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Schlossmacher I, Dellert T, Bruchmann M, Straube T. Dissociating neural correlates of consciousness and task relevance during auditory processing. Neuroimage 2020; 228:117712. [PMID: 33387630 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 12/19/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, several ERP components have been identified as potential neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), including early negativities and late positivities. Based on experiments in the visual modality, it has recently been shown that awareness is often confounded with reporting it, possibly overestimating the NCC. It is unknown whether similar constraints also exist in the auditory modality. In order to address this gap, we presented spoken words in a sustained inattentional deafness paradigm. Electrophysiological responses were obtained in three physically identical experimental conditions that differed only with respect to the participants' instructions. Participants were either left uninformed or informed about the presence of spoken words while confronted with an auditory distractor task (U/I condition), informed about the words while exposed to the same task as before (I condition), or requested to respond to the now task-relevant speech stimuli (TR condition). After completion of the U/I condition, only informed participants reported awareness of the words. In ERPs, awareness of words in the U/I and I condition was accompanied by an anterior auditory awareness negativity (AAN). Only when stimuli were task-relevant, i.e., during the TR condition, late positivities emerged. Taken together, these results indicate that early negativities but not late positivities index awareness across sensory modalities. Thus, they provide evidence for a recurrent processing framework, which highlights the importance of early sensory processing in conscious perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Insa Schlossmacher
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany.
| | - Torge Dellert
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Maximilian Bruchmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Thomas Straube
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
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17
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Arslanova I, Wang K, Gomi H, Haggard P. Somatosensory evoked potentials that index lateral inhibition are modulated according to the mode of perceptual processing: comparing or combining multi-digit tactile motion. Cogn Neurosci 2020; 13:47-59. [PMID: 33307992 DOI: 10.1080/17588928.2020.1839403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Many perceptual studies focus on the brain's capacity to discriminate between stimuli. However, our normal experience of the world also involves integrating multiple stimuli into a single perceptual event. Neural mechanisms such as lateral inhibition are believed to enhance local differences between sensory inputs from nearby regions of the receptor surface. However, this mechanism would seem dysfunctional when sensory inputs need to be combined rather than contrasted. Here, we investigated whether the brain can strategically regulate the strength of suppressive interactions that underlie lateral inhibition between finger representations in human somatosensory processing. To do this, we compared sensory processing between conditions that required either comparing or combining information. We delivered two simultaneous tactile motion trajectories to index and middle fingertips of the right hand. Participants had to either compare the directions of the two stimuli, or to combine them to form their average direction. To reveal preparatory tuning of somatosensory cortex, we used an established event-related potential design to measure the interaction between cortical representations evoked by digital nerve shocks immediately before each tactile stimulus. Consistent with previous studies, we found a clear suppression between cortical activations when participants were instructed to compare the tactile motion directions. Importantly, this suppression was significantly reduced when participants had to combine the same stimuli. These findings suggest that the brain can strategically switch between a comparative and a combinative mode of somatosensory processing, according to the perceptual goal, by preparatorily adjusting the strength of a process akin to lateral inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irena Arslanova
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Keying Wang
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Hiroaki Gomi
- NTT Communication Science Laboratories, NTT Corporation, Atsugishi, Japan
| | - Patrick Haggard
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
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18
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García AM, Hesse E, Birba A, Adolfi F, Mikulan E, Caro MM, Petroni A, Bekinschtein TA, del Carmen García M, Silva W, Ciraolo C, Vaucheret E, Sedeño L, Ibáñez A. Time to Face Language: Embodied Mechanisms Underpin the Inception of Face-Related Meanings in the Human Brain. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:6051-6068. [PMID: 32577713 PMCID: PMC7673477 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2019] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In construing meaning, the brain recruits multimodal (conceptual) systems and embodied (modality-specific) mechanisms. Yet, no consensus exists on how crucial the latter are for the inception of semantic distinctions. To address this issue, we combined electroencephalographic (EEG) and intracranial EEG (iEEG) to examine when nouns denoting facial body parts (FBPs) and nonFBPs are discriminated in face-processing and multimodal networks. First, FBP words increased N170 amplitude (a hallmark of early facial processing). Second, they triggered fast (~100 ms) activity boosts within the face-processing network, alongside later (~275 ms) effects in multimodal circuits. Third, iEEG recordings from face-processing hubs allowed decoding ~80% of items before 200 ms, while classification based on multimodal-network activity only surpassed ~70% after 250 ms. Finally, EEG and iEEG connectivity between both networks proved greater in early (0-200 ms) than later (200-400 ms) windows. Collectively, our findings indicate that, at least for some lexico-semantic categories, meaning is construed through fast reenactments of modality-specific experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adolfo M García
- Universidad de San Andrés, B1644BID Buenos Aires, Argentina
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), C1425FQB Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), MM5502GKA Mendoza, Argentina
- Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, 9170020 Santiago, Chile
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, CA 94158 San Francisco, USA
| | - Eugenia Hesse
- Universidad de San Andrés, B1644BID Buenos Aires, Argentina
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), C1425FQB Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustina Birba
- Universidad de San Andrés, B1644BID Buenos Aires, Argentina
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), C1425FQB Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Federico Adolfi
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), C1425FQB Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ezequiel Mikulan
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences “L. Sacco”, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Miguel Martorell Caro
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), C1425FQB Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Petroni
- Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1063ACV Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Inteligencia Artificial Aplicada, Departamento de Computación, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, ICC-CONICET, C1063ACV Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | | | - María del Carmen García
- Programa de Cirugía de Epilepsia, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, C1181ACH, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Walter Silva
- Programa de Cirugía de Epilepsia, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, C1181ACH, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carlos Ciraolo
- Programa de Cirugía de Epilepsia, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, C1181ACH, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Esteban Vaucheret
- Programa de Cirugía de Epilepsia, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, C1181ACH, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), C1425FQB Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Universidad de San Andrés, B1644BID Buenos Aires, Argentina
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), C1425FQB Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, CA 94158 San Francisco, USA
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, 8320000, Santiago, Chile
- Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, 080003, Barranquilla, Colombia
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19
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Canales-Johnson A, Beerendonk L, Blain S, Kitaoka S, Ezquerro-Nassar A, Nuiten S, Fahrenfort J, van Gaal S, Bekinschtein TA. Decreased Alertness Reconfigures Cognitive Control Networks. J Neurosci 2020; 40:7142-7154. [PMID: 32801150 PMCID: PMC7480250 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0343-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans' remarkable capacity to flexibly adapt their behavior based on rapid situational changes is termed cognitive control. Intuitively, cognitive control is thought to be affected by the state of alertness; for example, when drowsy, we feel less capable of adequately implementing effortful cognitive tasks. Although scientific investigations have focused on the effects of sleep deprivation and circadian time, little is known about how natural daily fluctuations in alertness in the regular awake state affect cognitive control. Here we combined a conflict task in the auditory domain with EEG neurodynamics to test how neural and behavioral markers of conflict processing are affected by fluctuations in alertness. Using a novel computational method, we segregated alert and drowsy trials from two testing sessions and observed that, although participants (both sexes) were generally sluggish, the typical conflict effect reflected in slower responses to conflicting information compared with nonconflicting information, as well as the moderating effect of previous conflict (conflict adaptation), were still intact. However, the typical neural markers of cognitive control-local midfrontal theta-band power changes-that participants show during full alertness were no longer noticeable when alertness decreased. Instead, when drowsy, we found an increase in long-range information sharing (connectivity) between brain regions in the same frequency band. These results show the resilience of the human cognitive control system when affected by internal fluctuations of alertness and suggest that there are neural compensatory mechanisms at play in response to physiological pressure during diminished alertness.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The normal variability in alertness we experience in daily tasks is rarely taken into account in cognitive neuroscience. Here we studied neurobehavioral dynamics of cognitive control with decreasing alertness. We used the classic Simon task where participants hear the word "left" or "right" in the right or left ear, eliciting slower responses when the word and the side are incongruent-the conflict effect. Participants performed the task both while fully awake and while getting drowsy, allowing for the characterization of alertness modulating cognitive control. The changes in the neural signatures of conflict from local theta oscillations to a long-distance distributed theta network suggest a reconfiguration of the underlying neural processes subserving cognitive control when affected by alertness fluctuations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés Canales-Johnson
- Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Posgrado, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca 3480112, Chile
| | - Lola Beerendonk
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Salome Blain
- Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Shin Kitaoka
- Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Alejandro Ezquerro-Nassar
- Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Stijn Nuiten
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Johannes Fahrenfort
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Simon van Gaal
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tristan A Bekinschtein
- Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
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