In this review article, we highlight several disparate ideas that are linked to changes in brain state (i.e., sleep to arousal, Down to Up, synchronized to de-synchronized). In any discussion of the brain state, we propose that the cortical pyramidal neuron has a central position. EEG recordings, which typically assess brain state, predominantly reflect the activity of cortical pyramidal neurons. This means that the dominant rhythmic activity that characterizes a particular brain state ultimately has to manifest globally across the pyramidal neuron population. During state transitions, it is the long-range connectivity of these neurons that broadcast the resultant changes in activity to many subcortical targets. Structures like the thalamus, brainstem/hypothalamic neuromodulatory systems, and respiratory systems can also strongly influence brain state, and for many decades we have been uncovering bidirectional pathways that link these structures to state changes in the cerebral cortex. More recently, movement and active behaviors have emerged as powerful drivers of state changes. Each of these systems involve different circuits distributed across the brain. Yet, for a system-wide change in brain state, there must be a collaboration between these circuits that reflects and perhaps triggers the transition between brain states. As we expand our understanding of how brain state changes, our current challenge is to understand how these diverse sets of circuits and pathways interact to produce the changes observed in cortical pyramidal neurons.

中文翻译：

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改变大脑状态的多种途径的观点

在这篇评论文章中，我们重点介绍了与大脑状态变化相关的几个不同的想法（即从睡眠到觉醒、从下到上、从同步到去同步）。在任何关于大脑状态的讨论中，我们都认为皮质锥体神经元具有中心位置。脑电图记录通常评估大脑状态，主要反映皮质锥体神经元的活动。这意味着表征特定大脑状态的主要节律活动最终必须在整个锥体神经元群体中表现出来。在状态转换期间，正是这些神经元的远程连接将由此产生的活动变化广播到许多皮层下目标。丘脑、脑干/下丘脑神经调节系统和呼吸系统等结构也能强烈影响大脑状态，几十年来，我们一直在揭示将这些结构与大脑皮层状态变化联系起来的双向途径。最近，运动和积极行为已成为国家变革的强大驱动力。这些系统中的每一个都涉及分布在大脑中的不同电路。然而，对于大脑状态的全系统变化，这些回路之间必须进行协作，以反映并可能触发大脑状态之间的转变。随着我们加深对大脑状态如何变化的理解，我们当前的挑战是了解这些不同的回路和通路如何相互作用以产生在皮质锥体神经元中观察到的变化。