The role of the medio-ventral occipital cortex in sleep deprivation-induced attention impairments: investigating brain networks and regional topology.

AIMS To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the decline in alert attention performance following sleep deprivation (SD) using functional connectivity and graph theoretical analysis and identify potential intervention targets.

METHODS A total of 44 participants underwent resting-state fMRI scans and psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) assessments under normal sleep (RW) and 30 h of SD conditions. Brain networks were constructed within a graph theoretical framework, and functional connectivity between networks as well as regional nodal properties, including degree and efficiency, were analyzed.

RESULTS Compared to the RW state, SD led to a significant deterioration in PVT performance, evidenced by increased reaction time (p = 0.0012) and lapse frequency (p = 5.13e-5). Neuroimaging results revealed a complex pattern of FC alterations, including increased connectivity between the dorsal attention network (DAN) and default mode network (DMN) but decreased connectivity within the visual network post-SD. Crucially, we identified a significantly attenuated FC between the visual network and the DAN, specifically between the medio-ventral occipital cortex (MVOcC) and DAN regions (e.g., precentral gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and fusiform gyrus). The strength of these specific inter-network connections was negatively correlated with increased PVT lapses. Furthermore, graph theory analysis demonstrated that SD significantly reduced the nodal degree and efficiency of the bilateral MVOcC, and these reductions were also negatively correlated with impaired PVT performance.

CONCLUSION Our findings identify the MVOcC as a critical vulnerability hub where disrupted inter-network connectivity (DAN-Visual) and diminished regional topological organization contribute to SD-induced alert attention deficits, highlighting its potential as a target for interventions.