Circadian and homeostatic modulation of functional connectivity and regional cerebral blood flow in humans under normal entrained conditions.

Diurnal rhythms have been observed in human behaviors as diverse as sleep, olfaction, and learning. Despite its potential impact, time of day is rarely considered when brain responses are studied by neuroimaging techniques. To address this issue, we explicitly examined the effects of circadian and homeostatic regulation on functional connectivity (FC) and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in healthy human volunteers, using whole-brain resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and arterial spin labeling (ASL).