Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Nat Commun. 2023 Jan 5;14(1):72. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35764-7.
Consciousness is a multidimensional phenomenon, but key dimensions such as awareness and wakefulness have been described conceptually rather than neurobiologically. We hypothesize that dimensions of consciousness are encoded in multiple neurofunctional dimensions of the brain. We analyze cortical gradients, which are continua of the brain's overarching functional geometry, to characterize these neurofunctional dimensions. We demonstrate that disruptions of human consciousness - due to pharmacological, neuropathological, or psychiatric causes - are associated with a degradation of one or more of the major cortical gradients depending on the state. Network-specific reconfigurations within the multidimensional cortical gradient space are associated with behavioral unresponsiveness of various etiologies, and these spatial reconfigurations correlate with a temporal disruption of structured transitions of dynamic brain states. In this work, we therefore provide a unifying neurofunctional framework for multiple dimensions of human consciousness in both health and disease.
意识是一种多维现象,但关键维度,如意识和觉醒,已经从概念上而不是从神经生物学上进行了描述。我们假设意识的维度被编码在大脑的多个神经功能维度中。我们分析皮层梯度,这是大脑总体功能几何形状的连续体,以描述这些神经功能维度。我们证明,由于药物、神经病理学或精神病理学原因导致的人类意识中断与一个或多个主要皮层梯度的退化有关,具体取决于状态。多维皮层梯度空间内的特定于网络的重新配置与各种病因的行为无反应有关,这些空间重新配置与动态脑状态的结构化转换的时间中断相关。因此,在这项工作中,我们提供了一个统一的神经功能框架,用于健康和疾病中的人类意识的多个维度。