Cardiac signals inform auditory regularity processing in the absence of consciousness.

ABSTRACT: In healthy awake individuals, the neural processing of bodily signals is not only essential for survival but can also influence perception and compete with external stimulus processing. Yet, the mechanism underlying this bidirectional processing of bodily and external stimuli, as well as its persistence or modulation in unconscious states, remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated the role of cardiac activity on auditory regularity processing in coma. We recorded continuous electroencephalography and electrocardiography in 48 comatose patients on the first day after cardiac arrest during a closed-loop auditory paradigm. We tested whether sounds presented in synchrony with the ongoing heartbeat and sounds presented with fixed, isochronous intervals, would facilitate auditory processing

SUBMITTER: Pelentritou A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12107109 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature