Sympathetic and parasympathetic central autonomic networks

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Autonomic Nervous System Research
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• The central-autonomic network (CAN) connects brain regions to autonomic nerves.
• Parasympathetic CAN involvement in disorders is known, but sympathetic CAN is less understood.
• Autonomic dysfunction is linked to neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the sympathetic CAN at rest.
• To identify brain regions functionally linked to sympathetic activity.
• To explore the overlap between sympathetic and parasympathetic CAN.

Main Methods:

• Utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from the Human Connectome Project.
• Employed heartbeat dynamics and orthonormal autoregressive descriptors to estimate sympathetic activity index (SAI).
• Analyzed resting-state fMRI data to map sympathetic CAN regions.

Main Results:

• Identified a widespread sympathetic CAN including cortical and subcortical areas (cerebellum, brainstem).
• Demonstrated functional linkage between these brain regions and sympathetic activity.
• Found overlap between sympathetic CAN and brain regions associated with parasympathetic activity.

Conclusions:

• The sympathetic CAN is extensive and includes both cortical and subcortical structures.
• Findings provide fundamental knowledge linking brain activity, autonomic function, and disorders.
• This research may elucidate the connection between neurological/psychiatric conditions and autonomic dysregulation.