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Global waves synchronize the brain's functional systems with fluctuating arousal.

Ryan V Raut1, Abraham Z Snyder2,3, Anish Mitra4

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Brain-wide traveling waves linked to arousal explain spontaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) fluctuations and functional connectivity. This research reveals a unifying physiological mechanism for brain organization during rest.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Systems Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • Spontaneous fluctuations in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals reflect large-scale brain organization.
  • Functional connectivity, derived from these fluctuations, maps brain networks but lacks a unifying physiological explanation.
  • Intrinsic brain organization is poorly understood, particularly the mechanisms driving widespread coordination.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose and empirically support a parsimonious account of brain-wide spatiotemporal organization.
  • To investigate the role of traveling waves linked to arousal in spontaneous fMRI signal fluctuations.
  • To demonstrate that traveling waves can explain functional connectivity patterns.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans to measure spontaneous brain activity.
  • Analyzed global waves of activity and their propagation patterns.
  • Correlated arousal fluctuations with observed brain activity.
  • Measured cortex-wide neural activity propagation using electrocorticography (ECoG) in macaques.

Main Results:

  • Ongoing arousal fluctuations correlate with global waves of activity propagating across the neocortex, thalamus, striatum, and cerebellum.
  • These traveling waves parsimoniously explain key features of spontaneous fMRI signal fluctuations.
  • Traveling waves account for topographically organized functional connectivity.
  • Similar cortex-wide neural activity propagation was observed in macaques via ECoG.

Conclusions:

  • Traveling waves associated with arousal are a fundamental mechanism for intrinsic brain-wide spatiotemporal organization.
  • These waves provide a unifying physiological explanation for spontaneous fMRI signal fluctuations and functional connectivity.
  • The findings suggest traveling waves dynamically pattern brain-wide excitability relative to arousal states.