Mapping visual dominance in human sleep

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Fla.), 2017-04, Vol.150, p.250-261
• Main Authors: McAvoy, Mark, Mitra, Anish, Tagliazucchi, Enzo, Laufs, Helmut, Raichle, Marcus E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Asymmetry; Attention; Brain; Brain Mapping; Electroencephalography; Female; Functional Laterality - physiology; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Global signal; Hemispheric asymmetry; Hemispheric laterality; Human behavior; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Language network; Lateralization; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mental health; Middle Aged; Neuroimaging; Neurology; NREM sleep; REM sleep; Sleep; Sleep - physiology; Specialization; Studies; Temporal lobe; Visual cortex; Visual Cortex - physiology; Visual network; Visual perception; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.02.053

Sleep is a universal behavior, essential for humans and animals alike to survive. Its importance to a person’s physical and mental health cannot be overstated. Although lateralization of function is well established in the lesion, split-brain and task based neuroimaging literature, and more recently in functional imaging studies of spontaneous fluctuations of the fMRI BOLD signal during wakeful rest, it is unknown if these asymmetries are present during sleep. We investigated hemispheric asymmetries in the global brain signal during non-REM sleep. Here we show that increasing sleep depth is accompanied by an increasing rightward asymmetry of regions in visual cortex including primary bilaterally and in the right hemisphere along the lingual gyrus and middle temporal cortex. In addition, left hemisphere language regions largely maintained their leftward asymmetry during sleep. Right hemisphere attention related regions expressed a more complicated relation with some regions maintaining a rightward asymmetry while this was lost in others. These results suggest that asymmetries in the human brain are state dependent. •Explored hemispheric asymmetries in the global signal during non-REM sleep.•Visual cortex becomes increasingly rightward asymmetric.•Left hemisphere language regions largely maintain leftward asymmetry.•Right hemisphere attention related regions show a complex relation.•Asymmetry changes could not be wholly explained by regional variability.