Nonequilibrium brain dynamics as a signature of consciousness

SANZ PERL, YONATAN; BOCACCIO, H.; PALLAVICINI, CARLA; IPIÑA, IGNACIO PEREZ; LAUREYS, S.; HELMUT LAUFS; KRINGELBACH, MORTEN; DECO, G.; ENZO TAGLIAZUCCHI

PHYSICAL REVIEW E

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2021

1539-3755

The cognitive functions of human and non-human primates rely on the dynamic interplay ofdistributed neural assemblies. As such, it seems unlikely that cognition can be supported by macroscopic brain dynamics at the proximity of thermodynamic equilibrium. We confirmed this hypothesisby investigating electrocorticography data from non-human primates undergoing different states ofunconsciousness (sleep, and anesthesia with propofol, ketamine, and ketamine plus medetomidine),and funcional magnetic resonance imaginga data from humans, both during deep sleep and underpropofol anesthesia. Systematically, all states of reduced consciousness unfolded at higher proximity to equilibrium dynamics than conscious wakefulness, as demonstrated by entropy productionand the curl of probability flux in phase space. Our results establish non-equilibrium macroscopicbrain dynamics as a robust signature of consciousness, opening the way for the characterization ofcognition and awareness using tools from statistical mechanics