Abstract
Instantaneous brain states have consequences for our sensation, perception, and behaviour. Fluctuations in arousal and neural desynchronization likely pose perceptually relevant states. However, their relationship and their relative impact on perception is unclear. We here show that, at the single-trial level in humans, local desynchronization in sensory cortex (expressed as time-series entropy) versus pupil- linked arousal differentially impact perceptual processing. While we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry data, stimuli of a demanding auditory discrimination task were presented into states of high or low desynchronization of auditory cortex via a real-time closed-loop setup. Desynchronization and arousal distinctly influenced stimulus-evoked activity and shaped behaviour displaying an inverted u-shaped relationship: States of intermediate desynchronization elicited minimal response bias and fastest responses, while states of intermediate arousal gave rise to highest response sensitivity. Our results speak to a model in which independent states of local desynchronization and global arousal jointly optimise sensory processing and performance.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e51501 |
| Journal | eLife |
| Volume | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 12.2019 |
Funding
Research was supported by the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator grant 646696 to JO) and a G.A. Lienert foundation scholarship (LW). Franziska Scharata, Philipp Seidel, and Simon Grosnick helped acquire the data. We thank Hong-Viet V. Ngo for assistance with illustrations, Bjorn Herrmann for help with source projection, and Santiago Jaramillo for insightful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. We additionally would like to thank Jan Willem de Gee, Jonathan Peelle, and an anonymous reviewer for constructive feedback.
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
