Intrinsic brain dynamics in the Default Mode Network predict involuntary fluctuations of visual awareness

Dian Lyu, Shruti Naik, David K. Menon and Emmanuel A. Stamatakis ()
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Dian Lyu: University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke’s Hospital
Shruti Naik: Universite´ Paris-Saclay
David K. Menon: University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke’s Hospital
Emmanuel A. Stamatakis: University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke’s Hospital

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Brain activity is intrinsically organised into spatiotemporal patterns, but it is still not clear whether these intrinsic patterns are functional or epiphenomenal. Using a simultaneous fMRI-EEG implementation of a well-known bistable visual task, we showed that the latent transient states in the intrinsic EEG oscillations can predict upcoming involuntarily perceptual transitions. The critical state predicting a dominant perceptual transition was characterised by the phase coupling between the precuneus (PCU), a key node of the Default Mode Network (DMN), and the primary visual cortex (V1). The interaction between the lifetime of this state and the PCU- > V1 Granger-causal effect is correlated with the perceptual fluctuation rate. Our study suggests that the brain’s endogenous dynamics are phenomenologically relevant, as they can elicit a diversion between potential visual processing pathways, while external stimuli remain the same. In this sense, the intrinsic DMN dynamics pre-empt the content of consciousness.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34410-6

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