Higher-order sensorimotor circuit of the brain's global network supports human consciousness.
NeuroImage May 1, 2021 Pengmin Qin, Xuehai Wu, Changwei Wu et al. 51 citations
Consciousness depends on a network of brain regions that integrate sensory and motor information. Analyzing fMRI data from people in preserved (awake, fully conscious brain-injury survivors), reduced (N1-sleep, minimally conscious), and lost (N3-sleep, anesthesia, unresponsive wakefulness) states, plus a unique rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep group, researchers identified key hubs whose degree centrality—a measure of network importance—dropped significantly when consciousness was reduced or absent. These hubs included the supplementary motor area, bilateral supramarginal gyrus, supragenual/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and left middle temporal gyrus. A higher-order sensorimotor circuit connecting these regions showed functional connectivity that correlated with consciousness levels across groups and remained active in REM sleep, suggesting this circuit supports consciousness and offers new targets for treating disorders of consciousness.