Interactions between Arousal and Quasi-Periodic Patterns in Humans
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Baer, Clayton Bryce
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Abstract
Quasi-periodic patterns (QPPs) are occasional, repeating low-frequency patterns of negatively correlated brain activity between the default mode network (DMN) and task positive network (TPN). They last approximately 20 seconds. This study investigated how fluctuations in arousal relate with QPP strength. This was done by measuring QPP strength (i.e., anticorrelation of the DMN and TPN) from blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signaling, while arousal is represented by pupil diameter in participants across 4 conditions. These conditions are rest, a baseline control, flanker, a cognitive control task, 0-back, a low working memory-demand task, and 2-back, a high working memory-demand task that is involved in executive control. It is hypothesized that arousal level (i.e., pupil diameter) will be larger when the QPP patterns of the condition exhibits a stronger anticorrelation, since a larger degree of anticorrelation indicates more efficient functioning of the networks involved in creating QPPs. Theoretically, this could be due to the type of brain activities occurring during QPPs requiring greater stimulation (i.e., arousal) to maintain such a high level of efficiency. It is also expected that arousal during QPPs will be highest for 2-back, followed by 0-back, flanker, and lastly rest because of each of their respective degrees of requirements for attentiveness and requirements for working memory. The results of this study will provide greater insights into how both functional connectivity and low-frequency activity relate to physiological processes.
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Undergraduate Research Option Thesis