A. Luppi, Lynn Uhrig, Jordy Tasserie, Pedro A. M. Mediano, Fernando E. Rosas, S. Parker Singleton, Daniel Gutierrez‐Barragan, Silvia Gini, Pablo Castro, Camilo Miguel Signorelli, Daniel Golkowski, Andreas Ranft, Rüdiger Ilg, Denis Jordan, Kanako Muta, Junichi Hata, Hideyuki Okano, Zhen-Qi Liu, Yohan Yee, Alain Destexhe, Rodrigo Cofre, D. Menon, Alessandro Gozzi, Béchir Jarraya, E. Stamatakis
The mammalian brain orchestrates the processing and integration of information to guide behaviour. Here, to characterize mammalian information-processing architecture, we combine functional neuroimaging and anaesthesia in humans, macaques, marmosets and mice. We show that breakdown of information integration is a convergent effect of diverse anaesthetics across mammalian species. As the system disintegrates, brain dynamics become more difficult to control. Both effects are reversed upon re-awakening induced by thalamic deep-brain stimulation in the macaque. Regional breakdown of integrated information coincides with the species-specific spatial topography of PVALB/Pvalb gene expression. To provide mechanistic insight beyond correlation, we develop computational models for humans, macaques and mice that integrate species-specific connectivity and transcriptomic gradients, demonstrating their respective roles for controlling brain dynamics and information integration. We reveal evolutionarily conserved controllers of information integration in the mammalian brain.