Quantifying Time-Variant High-Order Interactions in Brain-Heart Networks during Sleep

Abstract

This study introduces an approach, based on the information-theoretic measure of O-information rate, for analyzing time-varying higher order interactions (HOIs) between physiological systems, focusing on brain-heart interactions during sleep. The approach reveals significant modulation of HOIs across sleep stages in brain-heart networks, with reduced redundancy and potential synergistic behavior during REM. Our findings evidence the bidirectional nature of overnight physiological coupling between cardiac and brain rhythms, highlighting the potential for tracking HOIs over time.