Brain-body dynamics are asymmetric and stable across cognitive states

Abstract

The human body displays slow, spontaneous fluctuations in brain activity, autonomic physiology, and small incidental movements. It is unknown whether these co-fluctuations reflect a stable endogenous brain-body dynamic, or whether this dynamic varies with cognitive state. We addressed this question using a dynamical systems approach to analyze simultaneously recorded neural activity (EEG), autonomic physiology, and behavior while participants listened to spoken narratives or were at rest. We found that cognitive state did not substantially alter the endogenous dynamic. Acoustic and linguistic features predicted neural activity, which in turn affected physiological responses. Only low-level sound fluctuations exerted direct effects on autonomic signals. Peripheral physiology and behavior exerted stronger influences on EEG than the reverse. These findings suggest that slow co-fluctuations are the result of a stablebrain-body dynamic with strong bottom-up feedback, and that the narrative entrains this dynamic by engaging cognition.