Anterior cingulate activity and the self in disorders of consciousness

Qin, Pengmin; Di, Haibo; Liu, Yijun; Yu, Senming; Gong, Qiyong; Duncan, Niall W.; Weng, Xuchu; Laureys, Steven; Northoff, Georg

doi:10.1002/hbm.20989

Cited by 112 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(59 reference statements)

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“…The neuroanatomy of the ACC and its connections with motor control regions suggest that this brain structure acts as the neural interface for translating intentions into actions. This idea is in agreement with studies showing that restored activity in the ACC correlates with the level of responsiveness in brain-injured patients (Qin et al, 2010;Zhou et al, 2011). Our inferior parietal finding may have importance because of its functional connection with the ACC during the conscious state and because of its suggested role in movement intention and motor awareness ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Returning from Oblivion: Imaging the Neural Core of Consciousness

Långsjö

Alkire²,

Kaskinoro³

et al. 2012

J. Neurosci.

188

147

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One of the greatest challenges of modern neuroscience is to discover the neural mechanisms of consciousness and to explain how they produce the conscious state. We sought the underlying neural substrate of human consciousness by manipulating the level of consciousness in volunteers with anesthetic agents and visualizing the resultant changes in brain activity using regional cerebral blood flow imaging with positron emission tomography. Study design and methodology were chosen to dissociate the state-related changes in consciousness from the effects of the anesthetic drugs. We found the emergence of consciousness, as assessed with a motor response to a spoken command, to be associated with the activation of a core network involving subcortical and limbic regions that become functionally coupled with parts of frontal and inferior parietal cortices upon awakening from unconsciousness. The neural core of consciousness thus involves forebrain arousal acting to link motor intentions originating in posterior sensory integration regions with motor action control arising in more anterior brain regions. These findings reveal the clearest picture yet of the minimal neural correlates required for a conscious state to emerge.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Returning from Oblivion: Imaging the Neural Core of Consciousness

Långsjö

Alkire²,

Kaskinoro³

et al. 2012

J. Neurosci.

188

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We recently showed that this opposed functionality of the default mode and anticorrelated "extrinsic" system has a cognitive behavioral counterpart. Explicit subjective reports for increased intensity of "internal" awareness (i.e., self-related stimulus-independent processes) were related to increased connectivity in the default network, whereas increased "external" awareness scores (i.e., perception of the environment) was associated with increased connectivity in the "extrinsic" system (Vanhaudenhuyse et al, 2011), confirming the functional significance underlying the activity of both resting networks to conscious experience in health and disease (e.g., Laureys et al, 2007;Qin et al, 2010). The selection of a control condition for hypnotic state remains challenging as, a priori, no cerebral state is close to hypnotic state.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Hypnotic modulation of resting state fMRI default mode and extrinsic network connectivity

Demertzi

Soddu

Faymonville

et al. 2011

Progress in Brain Research

111

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Resting state fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) acquisitions are characterized by low-frequency spontaneous activity in a default mode network (encompassing medial brain areas and linked to self-related processes) and an anticorrelated "extrinsic" system (encompassing lateral frontoparietal areas and modulated via external sensory stimulation). In order to better determine the functional contribution of these networks to conscious awareness, we here sought to transiently modulate their relationship by means of hypnosis. We used independent component analysis (ICA) on resting state fMRI acquisitions during normal wakefulness, under hypnotic state, and during a control condition of autobiographical mental imagery. As compared to mental imagery, hypnosis-induced modulation of resting state fMRI networks resulted in a reduced "extrinsic" lateral frontoparietal cortical connectivity, possibly reflecting a decreased sensory awareness. The default mode network showed an increased connectivity in bilateral angular and middle frontal gyri, whereas its posterior midline and parahippocampal structures decreased their connectivity during hypnosis, supposedly related to an altered "self" awareness and posthypnotic amnesia. In our view, fMRI resting state studies of physiological (e.g., sleep or hypnosis), pharmacological (e.g., sedation or anesthesia), and pathological modulation (e.g., coma or related states) of "intrinsic" default mode and anticorrelated "extrinsic" sensory networks, and their interaction with other cerebral networks, will further improve our understanding of the neural correlates of subjective awareness.

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“…A series of studies have illustrated that intense or emotionally relevant stimuli induce higher-level activation in MCS (for review (Laureys and Boly, 2007). In the auditory modality, these studies have used presentation of meaningful stories told by a relative (Bekinschtein et al, 2004;Schiff et al, 2005) or autoreferential stimuli such as the patient's own name (Di et al, 2007;Laureys et al, 2004b;Qin et al, 2010). The latter studies, for example, show activation of midline structures (i.e., anterior cingulate/mesiofrontal and posterior cingulate/precuneus) known to be involved in internal or self-consciousness (Laureys et al, 2007).…”

Section: Insert Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The latter studies, for example, show activation of midline structures (i.e., anterior cingulate/mesiofrontal and posterior cingulate/precuneus) known to be involved in internal or self-consciousness (Laureys et al, 2007). Qin et al (2010) reported a linear correlation between activation of the anterior cingulate cortex and the level of consciousness as quantified by coma recovery scores.…”

Section: Insert Tablementioning

confidence: 99%