Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster 48149, Germany
Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster 48149, Germany.
J Neurosci. 2024 Nov 20;44(47):e1173242024. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1173-24.2024.
Viewing brain function through the lens of other physiological processes has critically added to our understanding of human cognition. Further advances though may need a closer look at the interactions between these physiological processes themselves. Here we characterize the interplay of the highly periodic, and metabolically vital respiratory process and fluctuations in arousal neuromodulation, a process classically seen as nonperiodic. In the data from three experiments ( = 56 / 27 / 25 women and men), we tested for covariations in respiratory and pupil size (arousal) dynamics. After substantiating a robust coupling in the largest dataset, we further show that coupling strength decreases during task performance compared with rest and that it mirrors a decreased respiratory rate when participants take deeper breaths. Taken together, these findings suggest a stronger link between respiratory and arousal processes than previously thought. Moreover, these links imply a stronger coupling during periods of rest, and the effect of respiratory rate on the coupling suggests a driving role. As a consequence, studying the role of neuromodulatory arousal on cortical function may also need to consider respiratory influences.
通过观察其他生理过程来研究大脑功能，这极大地促进了我们对人类认知的理解。然而，进一步的进展可能需要更仔细地研究这些生理过程本身之间的相互作用。在这里，我们描述了高度周期性且代谢至关重要的呼吸过程与觉醒神经调制波动之间的相互作用，这一过程通常被视为非周期性的。在来自三个实验的数据中（= 56/27/25 名女性和男性），我们测试了呼吸和瞳孔大小（觉醒）动力学的共变。在最大数据集上证实了稳健的耦合之后，我们进一步表明，与休息相比，在任务执行期间耦合强度会降低，并且当参与者进行深呼吸时，耦合强度会降低呼吸率。总之，这些发现表明呼吸和觉醒过程之间的联系比以前认为的更紧密。此外，这些联系表明在休息期间存在更强的耦合，而呼吸率对耦合的影响表明存在驱动作用。因此，研究神经调制唤醒对皮质功能的作用可能还需要考虑呼吸的影响。
