Interplay between spontaneous and induced brain activity during human non-rapid eye movement sleep.

in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2011), 108(37), 15438-43

Humans are less responsive to the surrounding environment during sleep. However, the extent to which the human brain responds to external stimuli during sleep is uncertain. We used simultaneous EEG and ... [more ▼]

Humans are less responsive to the surrounding environment during sleep. However, the extent to which the human brain responds to external stimuli during sleep is uncertain. We used simultaneous EEG and functional MRI to characterize brain responses to tones during wakefulness and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Sounds during wakefulness elicited responses in the thalamus and primary auditory cortex. These responses persisted in NREM sleep, except throughout spindles, during which they became less consistent. When sounds induced a K complex, activity in the auditory cortex was enhanced and responses in distant frontal areas were elicited, similar to the stereotypical pattern associated with slow oscillations. These data show that sound processing during NREM sleep is constrained by fundamental brain oscillatory modes (slow oscillations and spindles), which result in a complex interplay between spontaneous and induced brain activity. The distortion of sensory information at the thalamic level, especially during spindles, functionally isolates the cortex from the environment and might provide unique conditions favorable for off-line memory processing. [less ▲]

Identifying the default-mode component in spatial IC analyses of patients with disorders of consciousness.

in Human Brain Mapping (2011)

Objectives:Recent fMRI studies have shown that it is possible to reliably identify the default-mode network (DMN) in the absence of any task, by resting-state connectivity analyses in healthy volunteers ... [more ▼]

Objectives:Recent fMRI studies have shown that it is possible to reliably identify the default-mode network (DMN) in the absence of any task, by resting-state connectivity analyses in healthy volunteers. We here aimed to identify the DMN in the challenging patient population of disorders of consciousness encountered following coma. Experimental design: A spatial independent component analysis-based methodology permitted DMN assessment, decomposing connectivity in all its different sources either neuronal or artifactual. Three different selection criteria were introduced assessing anticorrelation-corrected connectivity with or without an automatic masking procedure and calculating connectivity scores encompassing both spatial and temporal properties. These three methods were validated on 10 healthy controls and applied to an independent group of 8 healthy controls and 11 severely brain-damaged patients [locked-in syndrome (n = 2), minimally conscious (n = 1), and vegetative state (n = 8)]. Principal observations: All vegetative patients showed fewer connections in the default-mode areas, when compared with controls, contrary to locked-in patients who showed near-normal connectivity. In the minimally conscious-state patient, only the two selection criteria considering both spatial and temporal properties were able to identify an intact right lateralized BOLD connectivity pattern, and metabolic PET data suggested its neuronal origin. Conclusions: When assessing resting-state connectivity in patients with disorders of consciousness, it is important to use a methodology excluding non-neuronal contributions caused by head motion, respiration, and heart rate artifacts encountered in all studied patients. Hum Brain Mapp, 2011. (c) 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [less ▲]

Changes in functional interactions during anaesthesia-induced loss of consciousness

Poster (2010, December 12)

Consciousness has been related to the amount of integrated information that the brain is able to generate. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that the loss of consciousness caused by propofol ... [more ▼]

Consciousness has been related to the amount of integrated information that the brain is able to generate. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that the loss of consciousness caused by propofol anesthesia is associated with a significant reduction in the capacity of the brain to integrate information. To assess the functional structure of the whole brain, functional integration and partial correlations were computed from fMRI data acquired from 18 healthy volunteers during resting wakefulness and propofol-induced deep sedation. Total integration was significantly reduced from wakefulness to deep sedation in the whole brain as well as within and between its constituent networks (or systems). Integration was systematically reduced within each system (i.e., brain or networks), as well as between networks. However, the ventral attentional network maintained interactions with most other networks during deep sedation. Partial correlations further suggested that functional connectivity was particularly affected between parietal areas and frontal or temporal regions during deep sedation. Our findings suggest that the breakdown in brain integration is the neural correlate of the loss of consciousness induced by propofol. They stress the important role played by parietal and frontal areas in the generation of consciousness. [less ▲]

Influence of brain-derived neurotrophic factor val66met human polymorphism on declarative memory consolidation

Poster (2010, November 15)

The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin which in the adult brain regulates long-term potentiation. In humans, valine (val) to methionine (met) substitution in the 5’ pro-region of ... [more ▼]

The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin which in the adult brain regulates long-term potentiation. In humans, valine (val) to methionine (met) substitution in the 5’ pro-region of the BDNF protein is associated with poorer episodic memory. Neurons transfected with met-BDNF-Green Fluorescence Protein showed lower depolarization-induced secretion, while constitutive secretion is unchanged. Here, we hypothesized that the differences in BDNF release determined by this polymorphism would influence memory consolidation and that in comparison with the val/met (=val/met or met/met), val/val individuals would show higher memory performance and different brain responses during a 16h-delayed rather than immediate retrieval session. Participants encoded a series of neutral faces in the afternoon. Retrieval sessions took place one hour after the encoding session, and in the following morning, during the acquisition of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) time series with a 3 Tesla Allegra scanner. During retrieval, studied faces and new ones were presented in random order. For each stimulus, the subjects indicated whether they could retrieve the encoding episode with (“Remember”), or without details (“Know”), or if they thought the item had not been presented during encoding (“New”). A repeated-measure ANOVA on discrimination index (d’) showed significant effects of group (F(1, 27)=8.65, p=0.007, n(val/val)=14, n(val/met)=15) and session (F(1, 27)=24.64, p=0.000), although the group by session interaction was not significant (F(1, 27)=1.29, p=0.267). fMRI results showed a significant genotype (val/val > val/met) by session (delayed > immediate retrieval) by memory type (Remember > Know) interaction in the right inferior occipital gyrus (x=42, y=-78, z=0, p=0.004, Z=3.77), the left inferior parietal lobule (x=-56, y=-40, z=48, p=0.013, Z=3.43), the posterior cingulate cortex (x=14, y=-42, z=42, p=0.019, Z=3.29) and the right hippocampus (x=28, y=-22, z=-22, p=0.03, Z=3.11). Val/val individuals demonstrate higher memory performance than met-carriers but the change in memory performance between immediate and delayed retests is similar in both allelic groups. In contrast, neural correlates of recollection change between sessions differently according to genotype: responses increase significantly more in val/val than in val/met individuals in brain areas involved in the retrieval, accumulation and binding of perceptual memory details during delayed, relative to immediate retest. These data suggest that activity-dependent BDNF release promotes memory consolidation during the first post-training hours. [less ▲]

Response to Comment on “Homeostatic Sleep Pressure and Responses to Sustained Attention in the Suprachiasmatic Area”

in Science (2010)

Astafiev et al. question whether the blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) response that we reported in the brainstem was located in the locus coeruleus (LC). Using high-resolution T1-turbo spin echo images ... [more ▼]

Astafiev et al. question whether the blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) response that we reported in the brainstem was located in the locus coeruleus (LC). Using high-resolution T1-turbo spin echo images (T1-TSE) acquired in an independent group of subjects, we show that the reported task-related BOLD response in the brainstem is actually compatible with the anatomical location of the LC. [less ▲]

Automatic brain image reading for the differential diagnosis between atypical parkinsonian syndromes & Parkinson's disease

in Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society (2010), 25(7), 379-379

Spectral quality of light modulates emotional brain responses in humans

in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2010), 107(45), 19549-54

Light therapy can be an effective treatment for mood disorders, suggesting that light is able to affect mood state in the long term. As a first step to understand this effect, we hypothesized that light ... [more ▼]

Light therapy can be an effective treatment for mood disorders, suggesting that light is able to affect mood state in the long term. As a first step to understand this effect, we hypothesized that light might also acutely influence emotion and tested whether short exposures to light modulate emotional brain responses. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, 17 healthy volunteers listened to emotional and neutral vocal stimuli while being exposed to alternating 40-s periods of blue or green ambient light. Blue (relative to green) light increased responses to emotional stimuli in the voice area of the temporal cortex and in the hippocampus. During emotional processing, the functional connectivity between the voice area, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus was selectively enhanced in the context of blue illumination, which shows that responses to emotional stimulation in the hypothalamus and amygdala are influenced by both the decoding of vocal information in the voice area and the spectral quality of ambient light. These results demonstrate the acute influence of light and its spectral quality on emotional brain processing and identify a unique network merging affective and ambient light information. [less ▲]

Abnormal neural filtering of irrelevant visual information in depression

in NeuroImage (2009), 45(Suppl. 1),

Rejection of pulse related artefact (PRA) from continuous electroencephalographic (EEG) time series recorded during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using constraint independent component analysis (cICA).

in NeuroImage (2009), 44(3), 679-91

Rejection of the pulse related artefact (PRA) from electroencephalographic (EEG) time series recorded simultaneously with fMRI data is difficult, particularly during NREM sleep because of the similarities ... [more ▼]

Rejection of the pulse related artefact (PRA) from electroencephalographic (EEG) time series recorded simultaneously with fMRI data is difficult, particularly during NREM sleep because of the similarities between sleep slow waves and PRA, in both temporal and frequency domains and the need to work with non-averaged data. Here we introduce an algorithm based on constrained independent component analysis (cICA) for PRA removal. This method has several advantages: (1) automatic detection of the components corresponding to the PRA; (2) stability of the solution and (3) computational treatability. Using multichannel EEG recordings obtained in a 3 T MR scanner, with and without concomitant fMRI acquisition, we provide evidence for the sensitivity and specificity of the method in rejecting PRA in various sleep and waking conditions. [less ▲]

Homeostatic sleep pressure and responses to sustained attention in the suprachiasmatic area.

in Science (2009), 324(5926), 516-9

Throughout the day, cognitive performance is under the combined influence of circadian processes and homeostatic sleep pressure. Some people perform best in the morning, whereas others are more alert in ... [more ▼]

Throughout the day, cognitive performance is under the combined influence of circadian processes and homeostatic sleep pressure. Some people perform best in the morning, whereas others are more alert in the evening. These chronotypes provide a unique way to study the effects of sleep-wake regulation on the cerebral mechanisms supporting cognition. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in extreme chronotypes, we found that maintaining attention in the evening was associated with higher activity in evening than morning chronotypes in a region of the locus coeruleus and in a suprachiasmatic area (SCA) including the circadian master clock. Activity in the SCA decreased with increasing homeostatic sleep pressure. This result shows the direct influence of the homeostatic and circadian interaction on the neural activity underpinning human behavior. [less ▲]