Müller Paul Manuel, Miron Gadi, Holtkamp Martin, Meisel Christian
Computational Neurology, Department of Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany.
Computational Neurology, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin 10178, Germany.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Apr 8;122(14):e2417117122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2417117122. Epub 2025 Apr 3.
The brain criticality hypothesis postulates that brain dynamics are set at a phase transition where information processing is optimized. Long-range temporal correlations (TCs) characterizing the dissipation of information within a signal have been shown to be a hallmark of brain criticality. However, the experimental link between cognitive performance, criticality, and thus TCs has remained elusive due to limitations in recording length and spatial and temporal resolution. In this study, we investigate multiday invasive EEG recordings of 104 persons with epilepsy (PwE) together with an extensive cognitive test battery. We show that short TCs predict cognitive impairment. Further, we show that heterogeneous factors, including interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs), antiseizure medications (ASMs), and intermittent periods with slow-wave activity (SWSs), all act directly to perturb critical dynamics and thus cognition. Our work suggests critical dynamics to be the setpoint to measure optimal network function, thereby providing a unifying framework for the heterogeneous mechanisms impacting cognition in conditions like epilepsy.
脑临界性假说假定，脑动力学处于信息处理得到优化的相变点。表征信号内信息耗散的长程时间相关性（TCs）已被证明是脑临界性的一个标志。然而，由于记录长度以及空间和时间分辨率的限制，认知表现、临界性以及因此的TCs之间的实验联系仍然难以捉摸。在本研究中，我们调查了104名癫痫患者（PwE）的多日侵入性脑电图记录，并进行了广泛的认知测试组。我们表明，短时间相关性预测认知障碍。此外，我们表明，包括发作间期癫痫样放电（IEDs）、抗癫痫药物（ASMs）和慢波活动（SWSs）间歇期在内的多种异质性因素，都直接作用于扰乱临界动力学，进而影响认知。我们的工作表明，临界动力学是衡量最佳网络功能的设定点，从而为影响癫痫等病症中认知的异质性机制提供了一个统一的框架。
