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Neuroscience

State-sanctioned synchrony

Nature volume 454, pages 839–840 (2008)Cite this article

A sleepy brain pays little attention to its surroundings, and its neurons are lulled by a common oscillation. As the brain swiftly rouses from this sluggish state, its neurons function more independently.

You know the experience. One moment you are drowsy and unfocused, awake but oblivious to your environment. Suddenly, something snaps you into awareness. Whether the trigger is external, like the sight or sound of someone entering the room, or internal, such as the thought of a looming deadline, you become immediately alert. Your ability to deal with most tasks, not just the stimulus that aroused you, improves, suggesting a change in your overall 'brain state'.

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Figure 1: Brain state and cortical synchrony.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scott J. Cruikshank and Barry W. Connors are in the Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA. scott_cruikshank@brown.edu barry_connors@brown.edu,

    Scott J. Cruikshank & Barry W. Connors

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  1. Scott J. Cruikshank
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  2. Barry W. Connors
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Cruikshank, S., Connors, B. State-sanctioned synchrony. Nature 454, 839–840 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/454839a

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