Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of the Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
School of Psychology, Beijing Sport University, No 48, Xinxi Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100084, China.
Behav Brain Res. 2022 Feb 10;418:113674. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113674. Epub 2021 Nov 16.
There is evidence indicating that people are more likely to take risks when they are sleep-deprived than during resting wakefulness (RW). The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) could have a crucial psychophysiological role in this phenomenon. However, the intrinsic patterns of functional organization of the human vmPFC and their relationship with risk-taking during sleep deprivation (SD) are unclear. This study investigated the relationship between functional connectivity in the vmPFC and cerebral cortex and the risk-taking tendency after SD. The study participants were 21 healthy college students who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging twice in the resting state, once during RW and once after 36 h of SD. The vmPFC was analyzed bilaterally for functional connectivity between the regions of interest. Correlation analysis was performed to evaluate changes in functional connectivity between the vmPFC and the cerebral cortex and risk-taking before and after SD. A single night of SD produced a definite deficit in functional connectivity between the vmPFC and thalamus bilaterally and an increase in functional connectivity between the vmPFC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the parietal lobe. We also found that the likelihood of risk-taking was positively correlated with increased functional connectivity between the vmPFC and dlPFC and negatively correlated with decreased functional connectivity between the vmPFC and thalamus bilaterally. These results demonstrate that lack of sleep substantially impairs functional connectivity between the vmPFC and the cerebral cortex, which in turn predicts the risk-taking behavior found after SD.
有证据表明，与休息时的清醒状态（RW）相比，人们在睡眠不足时更有可能冒险。腹内侧前额叶皮层（vmPFC）在这种现象中可能具有关键的生理心理作用。然而，人类 vmPFC 的内在功能组织模式及其与睡眠剥夺（SD）期间冒险行为的关系尚不清楚。本研究调查了 vmPFC 与大脑皮层之间的功能连接与 SD 后冒险倾向之间的关系。研究参与者为 21 名健康大学生，他们在 RW 期间和 36 小时 SD 后两次进行了两次静息状态下的功能磁共振成像。双侧 vmPFC 分析了感兴趣区域之间的功能连接。进行了相关分析，以评估 SD 前后 vmPFC 与大脑皮层之间功能连接的变化与冒险行为之间的关系。一夜 SD 导致双侧 vmPFC 与丘脑之间的功能连接明显缺陷，vmPFC 与背外侧前额叶皮层（dlPFC）和顶叶之间的功能连接增加。我们还发现，冒险的可能性与 vmPFC 与 dlPFC 之间功能连接的增加呈正相关，与双侧 vmPFC 与丘脑之间功能连接的减少呈负相关。这些结果表明，睡眠不足会严重损害 vmPFC 与大脑皮层之间的功能连接，从而预测 SD 后发现的冒险行为。
