Brain connectivity is associated to behavioral states (e.g. wake, sleep) and modified by physical activity although, to date, it is not clear which components (e.g. hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis hormones, cytokines) associated to the exercise are involved. In this pilot study, we used extreme exercise (UltraTriathlon) as a model to investigate physical-activity-related changes of brain connectivity. We studied post-race brain synchronization during wakefulness and sleep as well as possible correlations between exercise-related cytokines/hormones and synchronization features. For wakefulness, global synchronization was evaluated by estimating from fMRI data (12 athletes) the brain global connectivity (GC). GC increased in several brain regions, mainly related to sensory-motor activity, emotional modulation and response to stress that may foster rapid exchange of information across regions, and reflect post-race internally-focused mental activity or disengagement from previous motor programs. No significant correlations between cytokines/hormones and GC were found. For sleep (8 athletes), synchronization was evaluated by estimating the local-(cortical) and global-related (thalamo- cortical) EEG features associated to the phenomenon of Sleep Slow Oscillations (SSO) of NREM sleep. Results showed that: power of fast rhythms in the baseline preceding the SSO increased in midline and parietal regions; amplitude and duration of SSOs increased, mainly in posterior areas; sigma modulation in the SSO up state decreased. In the post race, IL-10 positively correlated with fast rhythms baseline, SSO rate and positive slope; IL-1ra and cortisol inversely correlated with SSO duration; TNF-α and C-reactive protein positively correlated with fast rhythm modulation in the SSO up state. Sleep results suggest that: arousal during sleep, estimated by baseline fast rhythms, is increased; SSO may be sustained by cortical excitability, linked to anti-inflammatory markers (IL-10); thalamo-cortical entrainment, (sigma modulation), is impaired in athletes with higher inflammatory markers.

中文翻译：

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非快速眼动睡眠和清醒期间的极端体育锻炼会改变大脑的连通性：EEG和fMRI研究表明。

脑连接与行为状态（例如，清醒，睡眠）相关联，并通过体育活动而改变，尽管到目前为止，尚不清楚与该运动相关的是哪些成分（例如，下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴激素，细胞因子）。在这项初步研究中，我们以极限运动（UltraTriathlon）为模型来研究与体育活动有关的大脑连通性变化。我们研究了觉醒和睡眠期间的赛后大脑同步，以及与运动相关的细胞因子/激素与同步特征之间的可能相关性。为了保持清醒，通过从fMRI数据（12名运动员）中估计大脑的全局连通性（GC）来评估全局同步。某些大脑区域的GC升高，主要与感觉运动活动有关，情绪调节和对压力的反应，可能促进各个区域之间的信息快速交换，并反映出赛后内部关注的精神活动或与以前的运动计划的脱离。没有发现细胞因子/激素与GC之间的显着相关性。对于睡眠（8名运动员），通过估计与NREM睡眠的慢速摆动现象（SSO）相关的局部（皮质）和整体相关（丘脑）EEG特征来评估同步性。结果表明：中线和顶叶区域在SSO之前的基线中快速节律的力量增加；SSO的振幅和持续时间增加，主要在后部区域；SSO up状态下的sigma调制降低。在赛后，IL-10与快速节律的基线，SSO率和正斜率呈正相关。IL-1ra和皮质醇与SSO持续时间呈负相关；TNF-α和C反应蛋白在SSO向上状态下与快速节律调节呈正相关。睡眠结果表明：基线时快速节律估计的睡眠中觉醒有所增加；SSO可以通过与抗炎标记物（IL-10）相关的皮层兴奋性来维持；具有较高炎症标记的运动员丘脑皮层夹带（sigma调制）受到损害。