The changes in neural complexity and connectivity in thalamocortical and cortico-cortical systems after propofol-induced unconsciousness in different temporal scales

作者：Zhenhu Liang, Luxin Fan, Bin Zhang, Wei Shu, Duan Li, Xiaoli Li, Tao Yu · 发表于：NeuroImage · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121193 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Anesthesia and Sedative Agents、Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research、Neural dynamics and brain function

Existing studies have indicated neural activity across diverse temporal and spatial scales. However, the alterations in complexity, functional connectivity, and directional connectivity within the thalamocortical and corticocortical systems across various scales during propofol-induced unconsciousness remain uncertain. We analyzed the stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) from wakefulness to unconsciousness among the brain regions of the prefrontal cortex, temporal lobe, and anterior nucleus of the thalamus. The complexity (examined by permutation entropy (PE)), functional connectivity (permutation mutual information (PMI)), and directional connectivity (symbolic conditional mutual information (SCMI) and directionality index (DI)) were calculated across various scales. In the lower-band frequency (0.1-45 Hz) SEEG, after the loss of consciousness, PE significantly decreased (p < 0.001) in all regions and scales, except for the thalamus, which remained relatively unchanged at large scales (τ=32 ms). Following the loss of consciousness, inter-regional PMI either significantly increased or remained stable across different scales (τ=4 ms to 32 ms). During the unconscious state, SCMI between brain regions exhibited inconsistent changes across scales. In the late unconscious stage, the inter-regional DI across all scales indicated a shift from a balanced state of information flow between brain regions to a pattern where the prefrontal cortex and thalamus drive the temporal lobe. Our ...