How are different neural networks related to consciousness?

Objective We aimed to investigate the roles of different resting‐state networks in predicting both the actual level of consciousness and its recovery in brain injury patients. Methods We investigated resting‐state functional connectivity within different networks in patients with varying levels of c...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of neurology Vol. 78; no. 4; pp. 594 - 605
Main Authors: Qin, Pengmin, Wu, Xuehai, Huang, Zirui, Duncan, Niall W., Tang, Weijun, Wolff, Annemarie, Hu, Jin, Gao, Liang, Jin, Yi, Wu, Xing, Zhang, Jianfeng, Lu, Lu, Wu, Chunping, Qu, Xiaoying, Mao, Ying, Weng, Xuchu, Zhang, Jun, Northoff, Georg
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2015
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects:
Adult
Brain - pathology
Brain - physiopathology
Brain Injuries - diagnosis
Brain Injuries - physiopathology
Consciousness
Consciousness - physiology
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Nerve Net - pathology
Nerve Net - physiopathology
Patients
Persistent Vegetative State - diagnosis
Persistent Vegetative State - physiopathology
Rest - physiology
ISSN:0364-5134, 1531-8249, 1531-8249
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective We aimed to investigate the roles of different resting‐state networks in predicting both the actual level of consciousness and its recovery in brain injury patients. Methods We investigated resting‐state functional connectivity within different networks in patients with varying levels of consciousness: unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS; n = 56), minimally conscious state (MCS; n = 29), and patients with brain lesions but full consciousness (BL; n = 48). Considering the actual level of consciousness, we compared the strength of network connectivity among the patient groups. We then checked the presence of connections between specific regions in individual patients and calculated the frequency of this in the different patient groups. Considering the recovery of consciousness, we split the UWS group into 2 subgroups according to recovery: those who emerged from UWS (UWS‐E) and those who remained in UWS (UWS‐R). The above analyses were repeated on these 2 subgroups. Results Functional connectivity strength in salience network (SN), especially connectivity between the supragenual anterior cingulate cortex (SACC) and left anterior insula (LAI), was reduced in the unconscious state (UWS) compared to the conscious state (MCS and BL). Moreover, at the individual level, SACC‐LAI connectivity was more present in MCS than in UWS. Default‐mode network (DMN) connectivity strength, especially between the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and left lateral parietal cortex (LLPC), was reduced in UWS‐R compared with UWS‐E. Furthermore, PCC‐LLPC connectivity was more present in UWS‐E than in UWS‐R. Interpretation Our findings show that SN (SACC‐LAI) connectivity correlates with behavioral signs of consciousness, whereas DMN (PCC‐LLPC) connectivity instead predicts recovery of consciousness. Ann Neurol 2015;78:594–605
Bibliography:istex:0C33C6771206178612B0C508D8978D42805FA4E3
Federal Government of China
National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China - No. 81025013
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
National Science Foundation of China - No. 31471072
ArticleID:ANA24479
Hope for Depression Research Foundation
Hangzhou Normal University
ark:/67375/WNG-BM9C7D4N-V
National Engineering of China - No. 985III-YFX0102
Shanghai Natural Science Foundation - No. 10ZR1405400
Michael Smith Foundation - No. EJLB-CIHR
Shanghai Education Commission - No. 10GG01
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ISSN:0364-5134
1531-8249
1531-8249
DOI:10.1002/ana.24479