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Oxygen Metabolism-induced Stress Response Underlies Heart–brain Interaction Governing Human Consciousness-breaking and Attention

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Abstract

Neuroscientists have emphasized visceral influences on consciousness and attention, but the potential neurophysiological pathways remain under exploration. Here, we found two neurophysiological pathways of heart-brain interaction based on the relationship between oxygen-transport by red blood cells (RBCs) and consciousness/attention. To this end, we collected a dataset based on the routine physical examination, the breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS) paradigm, and an attention network test (ANT) in 140 immigrants under the hypoxic Tibetan environment. We combined electroencephalography and multilevel mediation analysis to investigate the relationship between RBC properties and consciousness/attention. The results showed that RBC function, via two independent neurophysiological pathways, not only triggered interoceptive re-representations in the insula and awareness connected to orienting attention but also induced an immune response corresponding to consciousness and executive control. Importantly, consciousness played a fundamental role in executive function which might be associated with the level of perceived stress. These results indicated the important role of oxygen-transport in heart-brain interactions, in which the related stress response affected consciousness and executive control. The findings provide new insights into the neurophysiological schema of heart-brain interactions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31660274, 31771247, and 31600907), and the Reformation and Development Funds for Local Region Universities from the Chinese Government in 2020 (00060607, ZCJK 2020-11).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China

    Xiao-Juan Xue, Ze-Feng Li, Si-Fang Yu, Ming Liu & De-Long Zhang

  2. Plateau Brain Science Research Center, South China Normal University/Tibet University, Lhasa, 850012, China

    Rui Su, Xiao-Ou Bu, Peng Dang, Zhi-Xin Wang, Dong-Mei Chen, Tong-Ao Zeng, Ming Liu, Hai-Lin Ma & De-Long Zhang

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  1. Xiao-Juan Xue
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Xue, XJ., Su, R., Li, ZF. et al. Oxygen Metabolism-induced Stress Response Underlies Heart–brain Interaction Governing Human Consciousness-breaking and Attention. Neurosci. Bull. 38, 166–180 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-021-00761-1

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