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Updated: Jun 21, 2026
Cerebral Blood Flow-Based Resting State Functional Connectivity of the Human Brain using Optical Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy
Published on: May 27, 2020
Functional connectivity and alterations in baseline brain state in humans.
Roberto Martuzzi1, Ramachandran Ramani, Maolin Qiu
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, The Anlyan Center, 300 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520-8042, USA. roberto.martuzzi@yale.edu
Anesthesia alters brain connectivity. Functional connectivity MRI (fc-fMRI) showed higher-order brain networks, like memory and pain circuits, were significantly changed by sevoflurane anesthesia, while sensory networks remained stable.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Anesthesiology
Background:
- Intrinsic functional connectivity (fc-fMRI) reflects brain network organization.
- Understanding how anesthesia affects brain connectivity is crucial for patient care and research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of sevoflurane anesthesia on intrinsic functional connectivity in the human brain.
- To compare changes in fc-fMRI across different brain networks, from low-level sensory to higher-order cognitive regions.
Main Methods:
- Human volunteers underwent functional connectivity fMRI (fc-fMRI) in both pre-anesthetized and anesthetized (0.5 MAC sevoflurane) states.
- fc-fMRI maps were compared between conditions, focusing on sensory cortices, thalamus, insula, hippocampus, and default mode network (DMN).
Main Results:
- Anesthesia did not significantly alter fc-fMRI in sensory cortices or the default mode network (DMN).
- Significant alterations in fc-fMRI were observed in higher-order cognitive regions, including pain (insula) and memory (hippocampus) circuits.
- Statistical significance was determined using a p<0.005 threshold with a 20-voxel cluster correction.
Conclusions:
- Functional connectivity fMRI (fc-fMRI) demonstrates sensitivity to changes in baseline brain activity.
- Sevoflurane anesthesia at 0.5 MAC preferentially modulates intrinsic functional connectivity in higher-order cognitive brain networks, rather than low-level sensory networks or the DMN.
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