Brain Neural Network Architectures in Sleep-Wake Cycle

The article presents an attempt to search for neurophysiological mechanisms of maintaining different levels of consciousness by studying the cognitive processes of the sleep-wake transition. To perform this study, a psychomotor test was developed, the monotonous performance of which, during 60 min, causes alternating episodes with the disappearance of consciousness when falling asleep (“microsleep”) and its recovery when waking up (wakefulness). It is shown that the structure of transitions is individual in terms of the spatial localization of neural networks. A common tendency is the extensive activation of cortical-subcortical areas 2-4 TR (4–8 s) before the moment of waking fixation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal changes in brain neural networks were recorded during dynamic transitions: thalamus, hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, cerebellum, sensorimotor cortex, somato-sensory association cortex, secondary motor area, visual cortex, bilateral inferior parietal cortex, frontal temporal regions, pale globus and putamen area, insular cortex, cuneus, precuneus, anterior and middle cingulate cortex. The results reflect the complex individual dynamic activity of brain neural networks involved in the sleep-wake states, some of which is probably related to the preparation for the realization of the test motor task.