Multisensory integration in Peripersonal Space indexes consciousness states in sleep and disorders of consciousness
Tommaso Bertoni, Giulia Ricci, Jane Jöhr, Brunella Donno, Jacinthe Cataldi, Julia Fellrath, Aurelie Stephan, Carolina Foglia, Sandro Lecci, Florian Dauvin, Marina Lopez da Silva, Mattia Galigani, Polona Pozeg, Vincent Dunet, Marzia De Lucia, Jean-Paul Noel, Elisa Magosso, Karin Diserens, Francesca Siclari, Andrea Serino
bioRxiv Preprint Server October 25, 2024 preprint DOI: 10.1101/2024.10.25.619776 via bioRxiv
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractConscious experience includes not only awareness of external objects but also a sense of the embodied self, which relies on integrating multisensory stimuli near the body, a process involving the Peripersonal Space (PPS) system. Using high-density EEG in awake participants, a neural marker of PPS—high-beta oscillations in centroparietal regions during audiotactile integration near versus far from the body—was identified. This marker persisted during dreaming and waking conscious states but was absent during dreamless, unconscious states. In patients with disorders of consciousness, the same index predicted behavioral measures of consciousness and clinical outcome, suggesting that multisensory integration within PPS is tightly linked to conscious experience.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort |
|---|---|
| Population | Awake participants, sleepers, and patients with disorders of consciousness |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | A neural marker of peripersonal space integration—high-beta oscillations in centroparietal regions—persists during conscious states (waking and dreaming) but is absent during unconscious states, and predicts consciousness measures and clinical outcome in patients with disorders of consciousness. |
Abstract
Conscious experience encompasses not only the awareness of external objects, but also a phenomenal representation of the embodied subject of the experience. The latter is mediated by the integration of multisensory stimuli between the body and the environment, a process mediated by the Peripersonal Space (PPS) system. Here we thus tested the hypothesis that a neural marker of PPS representation may index the presence of conscious experience. Using high-density EEG in awake participants, we identified a “PPS index”, characterized by high-beta oscillations in centroparietal regions during the integration of audiotactile stimuli presented near versus far from the body. We then examined this marker across two models of altered consciousness, i.e., sleep and disorders of consciousness. The PPS index persisted during dreaming and waking conscious states but was absent during dreamless, unconscious states. Moreover, the same index predicted behavioural measures of consciousness and clinical outcome in patients recovering from disorders of consciousness. These results suggest that multisensory integration within the PPS is tightly linked to the presence of conscious experience.