ArticleNature communications2021
The ascending arousal system shapes neural dynamics to mediate awareness of cognitive states.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 88 papers.
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Who cites it
88 citing papers in PubMed.
- Thalamic modulation of cortical linearity across arousal states.Science advances · 2026Article
- Astrocyte reactivity modifies the effects of locus coeruleus norepinephrine-related dysfunction on tau and its impact on cognition.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Modeling the influences of non-local connectomic projections on geometrically constrained cortical dynamics.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Metabolic Brain Disorders: Prodromes, Symptoms, and Syndromes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- The Pupil-Brain System at Rest: Spontaneous Pupil Fluctuations as Markers of Neuromodulatory and Network Dynamics.Psychophysiology · 2026Review
- Cortical synchrony is reduced in Alzheimer's disease and relates to arousal state.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Arousal shapes motivation: an integrative framework for understanding motivational deficits.Translational psychiatry · 2026Review
- A hypothalamic-brainstem activity sequence underlies arousal fluctuations during daytime drowsiness.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Three parsimonious spatiotemporal patterns in cerebellum reveal individual traits in function and behavior.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal asymmetries on brain energy landscape uncover system entrapment related to depression severity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Inferring norepinephrine dynamics from partial observations reveals the temporal structure of elevations during arousal.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Geometry of neural dynamics along the cortical attractor landscape reflects changes in attention.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Attractor dynamics of a whole-cortex network model predicts emergence and structure of fMRI co-activation patterns in the mouse brain.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Computational Pipeline to Infer Micro-, Meso-, and Macro-Scale Brain-State Transitions.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Sleep and circadian rhythm disruptions in animal models of temporal lobe epilepsy.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Norepinephrine-mediated arousal fluctuations drive inverted U-shaped functional connectivity dynamics.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Short- and long-term modulation of rat prefrontal cortical activity following single doses of psilocybin.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- When your heart isn't in it anymore: cardiac correlates of task disengagement.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Preoperative Cholinergic Signatures Drive Segregated Brain Architecture in Postoperative Delirium.Research square · 2025Article
- Blood oxygenation level-dependent responses in neuromodulatory nuclei and their associations with attention and memory across age groups.Neurobiology of aging · 2025Article
28 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Models of cognitive function typically focus on the cerebral cortex and hence overlook functional links to subcortical structures. This view does not consider the role of the highly-conserved ascending arousal system's role and the computational capacities it provides the brain. We test the hypothesis that the ascending arousal system modulates cortical neural gain to alter the low-dimensional energy landscape of cortical dynamics. Here we use spontaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging data to study phasic bursts in both locus coeruleus and basal forebrain, demonstrating precise time-locked relationships between brainstem activity, low-dimensional energy landscapes, network topology, and spatiotemporal travelling waves. We extend our analysis to a cohort of experienced meditators and demonstrate locus coeruleus-mediated network dynamics were associated with internal shifts in conscious awareness. Together, these results present a view of brain organization that highlights the ascending arousal system's role in shaping both the dynamics of the cerebral cortex and conscious awareness.
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