Measuring the dynamic balance of integration and segregation underlying consciousness, anesthesia, and sleep.

ABSTRACT: Consciousness requires a dynamic balance of integration and segregation in functional brain networks. An optimal integration-segregation balance depends on two key aspects of functional connectivity: global efficiency (i.e., integration) and clustering (i.e., segregation). We developed a new fMRI-based measure, termed the integration-segregation difference (ISD), which captures both aspects. We used this metric to quantify changes in brain state from conscious wakefulness to loss of responsiveness induced by the anesthetic propofol. The observed changes in ISD suggest a profound shift to segregation in both whole brain and all brain subnetworks during anesthesia. Moreover, brain networks displayed similar sequences of disintegration and subsequent reintegration during, respectively, loss a

SUBMITTER: Jang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11042232 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature