Modular network analysis of abnormal functional connectivity and disrupted brain topology caused by sleep deprivation and its association with cognitive function

BACKGROUND: While reports have documented that sleep deprivation (SD) leads to the disruption of brain functional networks and impairment of neurocognitive functions, the underlying neurological mechanisms, particularly in highly educated young adults, remain not fully understood. PURPOSE: The brain network is a modular network composed of interconnected nodes. By utilizing modular sub-networks and graph theory analysis, we investigated the functional connectivity and topological structure of the brain network following SD, as well as their associations with neurocognitive functions. METHODS: Thirty-six healthy highly educated young participants were assessed before and after 24-h SD using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), the n-back task, the stroop color-word test (SCWT), and the Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14). Network functional connectivity and topological properties were used to describe the changes of the functional network caused by SD in the resting-state and analyzed its correlation with cognitive function tests. RESULTS: Findings revealed that after SD there was a disruption in the networks involving the visual network (VN), sensorimotor network (SMN), dorsal attention network (DAN), and default mode network (DMN), with the VN, SMN, and DAN being more severely affected. Moreover, there were changes in the topological structure of brain networks. Additionally, these alterations were closely related to cognitive conflict resolution abilities. CONCLUSION: Our research indicates that SD triggers extensive disturbances in brain networks, along with marked degradation in the topological properties of particular brain regions. Collectively, these alterations significantly diminish cognitive conflict resolution abilities.