Breakdown of thalamocortical connectivity under sleep deprivation: implications for cognitive arousal and transient sleep states
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Functional neuroimaging conducted at regular intervals throughout sleep deprivation reveals key thalamocortical connectivity changes that characterize the transition from a well-rested to a sleep-deprived state. Decreased thalamic connectivity is distributed across sensorimotor, visual, and limbic networks, including subcortical structures such as the parahippocampal gyrus and hippocampus. Associated changes in globally efficiency closely track group-level deficits in psychomotor vigilance, suggesting that thalamic-cortical interactions play a role in wake maintenance during sleep deprivation. These patterns of connectivity disruptions may reflect transient, sleep-like states arising from unstable wakefulness. Causal modeling indicates impaired self-inhibition within the thalamus is a dominant feature of sleep deprivation, which likely contributes to wake-state instability and attentional lapses. Statement of Significance This study provides novel insights into the impact of sleep deprivation on thalamocortical connectivity, highlighting the thalamus as a central hub for changes in functional network topology under conditions of prolonged wakefulness. Decreases in thalamocortical connectivity poses important considerations for understanding the consequence of sleep-deprived cognitive fatigue and draws parallels to potential transient sleep states. These findings contribute to our understanding of individual variability in vulnerability to sleep deprivation and underscore the thalamus as a critical target for interventions aimed at mitigating cognitive decline during sleep deprivation.
Source: SLEEP Advances
Authors: David Negelspach, Alisa Huskey, Kathryn Kennedy, Jungwon Cha, Jason Katz, William D S Killgore
Institution: University of Arizona
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,054
OpenAlex ID: W4414701425