Nonequilibrium brain dynamics as a signature of consciousness

Yonatan Sanz Perl, Hernán Bocaccio, Carla Pallavicini, Ignacio Pérez-Ipiña, Steven Laureys, Helmut Laufs, Morten Kringelbach, Gustavo Deco, and Enzo Tagliazucchi
Phys. Rev. E 104, 014411 – Published 28 July 2021
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Abstract

The cognitive functions of human and nonhuman primates rely on the dynamic interplay of distributed neural assemblies. As such, it seems unlikely that cognition can be supported by macroscopic brain dynamics at the proximity of equilibrium. We confirmed this hypothesis by investigating electrocorticography data from nonhuman primates undergoing different states of unconsciousness (sleep, and anesthesia with propofol, ketamine, and ketamine plus medetomidine), and functional magnetic resonance imaging data from humans, both during deep sleep and under propofol anesthesia. Systematically, all states of reduced consciousness unfolded at higher proximity to equilibrium compared to conscious wakefulness, as demonstrated by the computation of entropy production and the curl of probability flux in phase space. Our results establish nonequilibrium macroscopic brain dynamics as a robust signature of consciousness, opening the way for the characterization of cognition and awareness using tools from statistical mechanics.

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  • Received 18 January 2021
  • Revised 18 May 2021
  • Accepted 29 June 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.104.014411

©2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics of Living Systems

Authors & Affiliations

Yonatan Sanz Perl1,2,3, Hernán Bocaccio2, Carla Pallavicini2, Ignacio Pérez-Ipiña2, Steven Laureys4, Helmut Laufs5, Morten Kringelbach6, Gustavo Deco3, and Enzo Tagliazucchi2,7

  • 1Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, B1644BID, Argentina
  • 2Physics Department, University of Buenos Aires, and Buenos Aires Physics Institute, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
  • 3Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona 08002, Spain
  • 4Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
  • 5Department of Neurology, Christian Albrechts University Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany
  • 6Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX12JD, United Kingdom
  • 7Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago 7910000, Chile

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Issue

Vol. 104, Iss. 1 — July 2021

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