Evoked Alpha Power is Reduced in Disconnected Consciousness During Sleep and Anesthesia

Alpha Rhythm; Anesthesia; Cerebral Cortex; Consciousness; Evoked Potentials, Motor; Humans; Sleep; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Unconsciousness; Wakefulness

Abstract :

[en] Sleep and anesthesia entail alterations in conscious experience. Conscious experience may be absent (unconsciousness) or take the form of dreaming, a state in which sensory stimuli are not incorporated into conscious experience (disconnected consciousness). Recent work has identified features of cortical activity that distinguish conscious from unconscious states; however, less is known about how cortical activity differs between disconnected states and normal wakefulness. We employed transcranial magnetic stimulation–electroencephalography (TMS–EEG) over parietal regions across states of anesthesia and sleep to assess whether evoked oscillatory activity differed in disconnected states. We hypothesized that alpha activity, which may regulate perception of sensory stimuli, is altered in the disconnected states of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and ketamine anesthesia. Compared to wakefulness, evoked alpha power (8–12 Hz) was decreased during disconnected consciousness. In contrast, in unconscious states of propofol anesthesia and non-REM (NREM) sleep, evoked low-gamma power (30–40 Hz) was decreased compared to wakefulness or states of disconnected consciousness. These findings were confirmed in subjects in which dream reports were obtained following serial awakenings from NREM sleep. By examining signatures of evoked cortical activity across conscious states, we identified novel evidence that suppression of evoked alpha activity may represent a promising marker of sensory disconnection. © 2018, The Author(s).

Disciplines :

Neurosciences & behavior

Author, co-author :

Darracq, M.; Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 53792, United States

Funk, C. M.; Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 53719, United States

Polyakov, D.; Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 53792, United States

Riedner, B.; Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 53719, United States

Gosseries, Olivia ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Consciousness-Coma Science Group

Nieminen, Jaakko O.; Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland

BONHOMME, Vincent ; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège - CHU > Département d'Anesthésie et réanimation > Service d'anesthésie - réanimation

Brichant, Jean-François ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences cliniques > Anesthésie et réanimation

Boly, Mélanie; Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 53719, United States, Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 53792, United States

Laureys, Steven ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Consciousness-Coma Science Group

Tononi, Giulio; Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 53719, United States

Sanders, R. D.; Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 53792, United States

Language :

English

Title :

Evoked Alpha Power is Reduced in Disconnected Consciousness During Sleep and Anesthesia

Publication date :

2018

Journal title :

Scientific Reports

eISSN :

2045-2322

Publisher :

Nature Publishing Group

Volume :

Issue :

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

European Projects :

H2020 - 686764 - LUMINOUS - Studying, Measuring and Altering Consciousness through information theory in the electrical brain
H2020 - 720270 - HBP SGA1 - Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 1

Funders :

EC - European Commission
Academy of Finland
MSF - Mind Science Foundation
JSMF - James S McDonnell Foundation
EU - European Union
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique
French-Speaking Community of Belgium
CHU Liège - Central University Hospital of Liege
ULiège - University of Liège

Funding text :

RDS is supported by K23 AG055700. MB is supported by R03NS096379. GT is supported by NIH/NCCAMP01AT004952 and NIH/NIMH 5P20MH077967. OG is a post-doctoral fellow, and SL is a research director at the national fund for scientific research (FNRS). This research was supported by the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research (FNRS), Human Brain Project (EU-H2020-FETFLAGSHIP-HBP-SGA1-GA720270), Luminous project (EU-H2020-FETOPEN-GA686764), the European Commission, the James McDonnel Foundation, the Mind Science Foundation, the French Speaking Community Concerted Research Action (ARC-06/11-340), the University and University Hospital of Liège, and the Academy of Finland (Decision Nos. 265680 and 294625).

Available on ORBi :

since 17 January 2020

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