Preserved individual differences in functional connectivity patterns under dexmedetomidine-induced sedation

Abstract Functional connectivity patterns of the human brain show unique inherent or intrinsic characteristics at rest and when performing a task, similar to a fingerprint. However, whether this unique functional organization is preserved during sedation currently remains unknown. Here, we collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 20 subjects in each of three resting states: wakefulness, sedation, and recovery. We found that functional connectivity patterns could successfully identify individual subjects in any pair of the three resting states. In particular, identification analysis using functional connectivity patterns based on the frontoparietal network showed the highest success rates. Moreover, the overall individual difference in the frontoparietal-based functional connectivity patterns was much larger than that derived from other networks in each resting state. Collectively, our findings indicate that functional connectivity patterns within individual subjects are unique and relatively robust to brain state changes, regardless of dexmedetomidine-induced sedation.