Partial synchronization in empirical brain networks as a model for unihemispheric sleep

Abstract

We analyze partial synchronization patterns in a network of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators with empirical structural connectivity measured in healthy human subjects. We report a dynamical asymmetry between the hemispheres, induced by the natural structural asymmetry. We show that the dynamical asymmetry can be enhanced by introducing the inter-hemispheric coupling strength as a control parameter for partial synchronization patterns. We specify the possible modalities for existence of unihemispheric sleep in human brain, where one hemisphere sleeps while the other remains awake. In fact, this state is common among migratory birds and mammals like aquatic species.