Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.11.20.391482v1?rss=1 Authors: Lopez-Gonzalez, A., Panda, R., Ponce-Alvarez, A., Zamora, G., Escrichs, A., Martial, C., Thibaut, A., Gosseries, O., Kringelbach, M. L., Annen, J., Laureys, S., Deco, G. Abstract: Low-level states of consciousness are characterised by disruptions of brain dynamics that sustain arousal and awareness. Yet, how structural, dynamical, local and network brain properties interplay in the different levels of consciousness is unknown. Here, we studied the fMRI brain dynamics from patients that suffered brain injuries leading to a disorder of consciousness and from subjects undergoing propofol-induced anaesthesia. We showed that pathological and pharmacological low-level states of consciousness displayed less recurrent, less diverse, less connected, and more segregated synchronization patterns than conscious states. We interpreted these effects using whole-brain models built on healthy and injured connectomes. We showed that altered dynamics arise from a global reduction of network interactions, together with more homogeneous and more structurally constrained local dynamics. These effects were accentuated using injured connectomes. Notably, these changes lead the hub regions to lose their stability during low-level states of consciousness, thus attenuating the core-periphery structure of brain dynamics. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info