The brain exhibits a complex temporal structure which translates into a hierarchy of distinct neural timescales. An open question is how these intrinsic timescales are related to sensory or motor information processing and whether these dynamics have common patterns in different behavioural states. We address these questions by investigating the brain's intrinsic timescales in healthy controls, motor (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, locked-in syndrome), sensory (anaesthesia, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome), and progressive reduction of sensory processing (from awake states over N1, N2, N3). We employed a combination of measures from EEG resting-state data: auto-correlation window (ACW), power spectral density (PSD), and power-law exponent (PLE). Prolonged neural timescales accompanied by a shift towards slower frequencies were observed in the conditions with sensory deficits, but not in conditions with motor deficits. Our results establish that the spontaneous activity's intrinsic neural timescale is related to the neural capacity that specifically supports sensory rather than motor information processing in the healthy brain.

中文翻译：

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内在神经时间尺度是否与感觉处理有关？来自异常行为状态的证据

大脑表现出复杂的时间结构，可转化为不同神经时间尺度的层次结构。一个悬而未决的问题是这些内在时间尺度如何与感觉或运动信息处理相关，以及这些动态在不同行为状态下是否具有共同模式。我们通过调查健康对照大脑的内在时间尺度、运动（肌萎缩侧索硬化、闭锁综合征）、感觉（麻醉、反应迟钝的觉醒综合征）和感觉处理的逐渐减少（从清醒状态超过 N1、N2、 N3)。我们采用了来自 EEG 静息状态数据的测量组合：自相关窗口 (ACW)、功率谱密度 (PSD) 和幂律指数 (PLE)。在有感觉缺陷的条件下观察到伴随着向较慢频率转变的延长的神经时间尺度，但在有运动缺陷的条件下观察不到。我们的研究结果表明，自发活动的内在神经时间尺度与健康大脑中专门支持感觉而非运动信息处理的神经容量有关。