https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-025-02103-y
Regular Article
Differences in predicted BOLD response due to different neuro-glia-vascular unit states during sleep and wakefulness: a computational study
1
HeliBrain, Pančevo, Serbia
2
Department of Biology, Saratov State University, Astrakhanskaya Str. 83, 410012, Saratov, Russia
Received:
10
November
2025
Accepted:
8
December
2025
Published online:
18
December
2025
Over the past 2 decades, the phenomenon of local sleep has been proven and recognized by experts. Combined with new data and hypotheses linking sleep to the activation of the brain’s clearance of harmful metabolites, diagnostics of local sleep using fMRI would be extremely useful. In our computational study, we present an attempt to predict the difference in BOLD response to a single stimulus, as demonstrated by “sleeping” and “awake” neuro-glia-vascular units. To do this, we use a detailed quantitative mathematical model with sets of control parameters describing both sleep and wake states. First, we assess the differences in responses to external stimuli in these states and then compare the BOLD responses, including when simulating a state of local sleep. Our main finding is that for a certain range of stimulus strengths, the BOLD response during sleep is, on average, below the baseline, while during wakefulness, the opposite is true. Importantly, this also applies to local sleep state, when systemic noradrenaline levels remain high. We propose an explanation for this result based on the idea that a weaker response to incoming stimuli during sleep leads to weaker reactive hyperemia, while neuronal oxygen consumption changes less significantly. Finally, we discuss possible application of our results to the analysis of experimental data.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
