Altered functional connectivity of thalamus subregions after sleep deprivation associated with impaired attention

Abstract

Abstract Attentional function is significantly damaged by acute sleep deprivation (SD), which manifests with thalamic dysfunction and the abnormal functional connectivity (FC) of extensive brain networks. However, the FC between the thalamus subregions and cerebrum underlying attentional impairment after acute SD remains elusive. Here, we aimed to probe the relationship between the attentional function and the altered thalamocortical FC after acute SD. In this study, 25 healthy participants with regular sleep conducted attentional network test and received resting-state fMRI scan before and after 24 h of SD. Then, we analyzed the FC between the thalamus and cerebrum and relationships with attentional function in the enrolled subjects. Our results displayed that the participants showed the significantly lower alerting effect, higher executive effect, and a lower accuracy after acute SD. Compared to the RW state, we observed the decreased FCs between ‘somatosensory’ thalamic seed and left frontal pole, right frontal pole, left middle temporal gyrus (posterior division), and right middle temporal gyrus (posterior division). Furthermore, the reduced FC between the right middle temporal gyrus and ‘somatosensory’ thalamic seed was negatively associated with the change in orienting effect of the participants. Our findings reveal that the damaged thalamocortical FC after SD may contribute to the declined attention.