Posterior cingulate cross-hemispheric functional connectivity predicts the level of consciousness in traumatic brain injury.
Previous studies have demonstrated that altered states of consciousness are related to changes in resting state activity in the default-mode network (DMN). Anatomically, the DMN can be divided into anterior and posterior regions. The anterior DMN includes the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex and other medial prefrontal cortical regions, whereas the posterior DMN includes regions such as the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the temporal parietal junction (TPJ). Although differential roles have been attributed to the anterior and posterior DMN regions, their exact contributions to consciousness levels remain unclear. To investigate the specific role of the posterior DMN in consciousness levels, we investigated 20 healthy controls (7 females, mean age = 33.6 years old) and 20 traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients (5 females, mean age = 43 years old) whose brain lesions were mainly restricted to the bilateral frontal cortex but retained a well-preserved posterior DMN (e.g., the PCC and the TPJ) and who exhibited varying levels of consciousness. We investigated the intra- and cross-functional connectivity strengths (FCSs) between the right/left PCC and the right/left TPJ and their correlation with consciousness levels. Significant reductions in both the intra- and cross-hemispheric FCSs were observed in patients compared with controls. A significant correlation with consciousness levels was observed only for the cross-hemispheric PCC-TPJ FCS but not for the intra-hemispheric PCC-TPJ FCS. Taken together, our results show that the cross-hemispheric posterior DMN is related to consciousness levels in a specific group of patients without posterior structural lesions. We therefore propose that the PCC may be central in maintaining consciousness through its cross-hemispheric FC with the TPJ.
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, NO. 12 Wulumuqi mid Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, 200040, China.
Haosu
H
Zhang
School of Life Science, South China Normal University, Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Science in Higher Education of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, 510631, PR China.
Rui
R
Dai
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.|Centre for Studies of Psychological Applications, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.|School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
Pengmin
P
Qin
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, NO. 12 Wulumuqi mid Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, 200040, China.
Weijun
W
Tang
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, NO. 12 Wulumuqi mid Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, 200040, China.
Jin
J
Hu
Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders (CCBD), Hangzhou Normal University. NO. 19#3 Shuyuan, NO. 58 Haishu Road, Yuhang district, Hangzhou, Zhejian Province, 310000, China.
Xuchu
X
Weng
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, NO. 12 Wulumuqi mid Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, 200040, China.
Xing
X
Wu
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, NO. 12 Wulumuqi mid Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, 200040, China.
Ying
Y
Mao
Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, NO. 12 Wulumuqi mid Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, 200040, China. wuxuehai2013@163.com.
Xuehai
X
Wu
Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders (CCBD), Hangzhou Normal University. NO. 19#3 Shuyuan, NO. 58 Haishu Road, Yuhang district, Hangzhou, Zhejian Province, 310000, China. georg.northoff@theroyal.ca.|Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, 1145 Carling Avenue, Room 6435, Ottawa, ON, K1Z 7K4, Canada. georg.northoff@theroyal.ca.
Georg
G
Northoff
D000328:Adult; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003243:Consciousness; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult