Consciousness and cortical responsiveness: a within-state study during non-rapid eye movement sleep
Jaakko O. Nieminen, Olivia Gosseries, Marcello Massimini, Elyana Saad, Andrew D. Sheldon, Melanie Boly, Francesca Siclari, Bradley R. Postle, Giulio Tononi
Scientific Reports August 5, 2016 DOI: 10.1038/srep30932 via OpenAlex
Summary
During non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, the brain's response to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) differs depending on whether the person is conscious (dreaming) or not. When subjects reported no conscious experience upon awakening, TMS evoked a larger negative deflection and a shorter phase-locked response compared to when they reported a dream. The amplitude of the negative deflection—a hallmark of neuronal bistability—was inversely correlated with the length of the dream report. These findings suggest that variations in the level of consciousness within the same physiological state are associated with changes in underlying cortical bistability.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Subjects during NREM sleep |
| Intervention | Transcranial magnetic stimulation |
| Keywords | Wakefulness Transcranial magnetic stimulation Electroencephalography Neuroscience Psychology |
| Citations | 60 |
| Key finding | Within NREM sleep, the absence of conscious experience is associated with a larger TMS-evoked negative deflection and shorter phase-locked response compared to dreaming, with the negative deflection amplitude inversely correlated with dream report length. |
Abstract
When subjects become unconscious, there is a characteristic change in the way the cerebral cortex responds to perturbations, as can be assessed using transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS-EEG). For instance, compared to wakefulness, during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep TMS elicits a larger positive-negative wave, fewer phase-locked oscillations, and an overall simpler response. However, many physiological variables also change when subjects go from wake to sleep, anesthesia, or coma. To avoid these confounding factors, we focused on NREM sleep only and measured TMS-evoked EEG responses before awakening the subjects and asking them if they had been conscious (dreaming) or not. As shown here, when subjects reported no conscious experience upon awakening, TMS evoked a larger negative deflection and a shorter phase-locked response compared to when they reported a dream. Moreover, the amplitude of the negative deflection-a hallmark of neuronal bistability according to intracranial studies-was inversely correlated with the length of the dream report (i.e., total word count). These findings suggest that variations in the level of consciousness within the same physiological state are associated with changes in the underlying bistability in cortical circuits.