A week in the life of the human brain reveals stable states punctuated by chaotic-like transitions

Jun 5, 2026Nature communications

A week of human brain activity shows steady states interrupted by sudden chaotic shifts

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Abstract

Neurodynamics linked to circadian rhythm and heart rate were observed in twenty participants over a week of spontaneous behavior.

Neurophysiological processes fluctuate over minutes to days in real-world settings.
Rapid transitions between behaviors correlate with bursts of chaotic neural activity.
Neural dynamics stabilize around a central attractor associated with conscious states.
Sleep deprivation leads to increased chaos in neural transitions and reduced control.
Findings suggest a balance between dynamic exploration and stability in brain function.

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Critical real-world neurocognitive processes, such as settling into a conversation and neurophysiological fluctuations, vary over minutes-to-days in real-world environments. We harnessed simultaneous multi-electrode intracranial and video recordings in twenty people during a week of unconstrained, spontaneous behavior. Using dynamical deep learning algorithms, we found neurodynamics linked to circadian rhythm, heart rate, and multiple aspects of behavior (socializing, watching a screen, sleep depth, etc.). Transitioning between behaviors was associated with bursts of rapid, chaotic neural exploration that stabilized into new states. Despite this chaos, large-scale dynamics anchored to a stabilizing center manifold associated with neurophysiological and conscious states, with a central attractor involving default mode network activation. When perturbed by sleep deprivation, neural transitions were more chaotic and dynamics around the central attractor were suppressed, suggesting diminished neurodynamic control due to lack of sleep. These findings highlight how the brain chaotically transitions around a stabilizing equilibrium to balance dynamic exploration and stable equilibria during real-world behavior.

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A week in the life of the human brain reveals stable states punctuated by chaotic-like transitions

Abstract

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