Ventral tegmental area functional connectivity as a marker of resilience to sleep deprivation

IF 2 4区医学 Q3 NEUROSCIENCES

Neuroscience Letters Pub Date : 2025-05-20 DOI:10.1016/j.neulet.2025.138271

Jungwon Cha, Kathryn E.R. Kennedy, David Negelspach, Alisa Huskey, William D.S. Killgore

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

Sleep deprivation (SD) impairs cognitive functions like attention and reaction speed, though some individuals exhibit a trait-like resilience to these effects. To explore the neurobiological basis of this resilience, we quantified cognitive performance using the Percentage Reaction Speed Change (PRSC) from the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT). We then examined the relationship between PRSC and ventral tegmental area (VTA) functional connectivity during 28 h of SD.

Methods

Forty-four healthy adults (21 females; age = 25.4 ± 5.6 years) underwent a resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) to examine whole-brain VTA connectivity. Within the same week, participants completed a 28-hour SD protocol, during which PVT performance was measured. We examined the association between VTA connectivity and PRSC, with a focus on connections to the Primary Visual Cortex (V1) and Supplementary and Cingulate Eye Field (SCEF).

Results

Greater VTA connectivity with the V1 and SCEF was associated with higher PRSC, suggesting that stronger VTA connectivity to these visual processing and cognitive control regions supports cognitive resilience to SD.

Conclusion

The VTA contributes to cognitive resilience during sleep deprivation through its connectivity with visual and cognitive control regions. These findings provide insight into neural mechanisms that help preserve cognitive performance under SD.

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腹侧被盖区功能连通性作为睡眠剥夺恢复能力的标志。

目的：睡眠剥夺（SD）会损害认知功能，如注意力和反应速度，尽管有些人对这些影响表现出类似恢复力的特征。为了探索这种弹性的神经生物学基础，我们使用来自精神运动警觉性测试（PVT）的百分比反应速度变化（PRSC）来量化认知表现。然后，我们在SD的28 h内检测了PRSC与腹侧被盖区（VTA）功能连通性之间的关系。方法：健康成人44例(女性21例；年龄 = 25.4 ± 5.6 岁)进行静息状态功能MRI （rs-fMRI）检查全脑VTA连通性。在同一周内，参与者完成了28小时的SD方案，在此期间测量PVT表现。我们研究了VTA连通性和PRSC之间的联系，重点研究了与初级视觉皮层（V1）和补充扣带视野（SCEF）的联系。结果：VTA与V1和SCEF的连通性越强，PRSC越高，表明VTA与这些视觉加工和认知控制区域的连通性越强，支持对SD的认知弹性。结论：睡眠剥夺时，VTA与视觉和认知控制区域的连通性有助于认知恢复。这些发现提供了对SD下帮助保持认知表现的神经机制的深入了解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Neuroscience Letters 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

5.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

408

审稿时长

50 days

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