Brain-heart coupling shapes large scale brain dynamics

Functional brain networks reconfigure to support adaptive behaviour, balancing integration and segregation. These dynamics are influenced by neuromodulatory arousal, reflected in heart rate (HR) fluctuations. We leverage intracranial EEG (iEEG), functional MRI (fMRI), and HR recordings during emotional movie viewing to probe neurocardiac contributions to large-scale network dynamics. High-frequency iEEG activity (60-140 Hz), an established marker of neuronal firing, reveals that greater network integration tracks elevated HR, while segregation aligns with lower HR. However, we observe an inverted relationship between HR and network dynamics in a separate fMRI data utilising the same movie, and replicate this in another independent fMRI dataset. Biophysical modelling of BOLD from iEEG reproduces the iEEG-HR findings, suggesting neurovascular transformation may obscure neural-cardiac links in fMRI. These results link large-scale network dynamics to physiological arousal through HR driven adrenergic-cholinergic neuromodulation and highlight the complex interplay between neural activity, autonomic regulation, and haemodynamics.