A collaborative research group led by Masanori Murayama at RIKEN used a custom-developed wide-field two-photon microscope to record and analyze large-scale neuronal activity at single-cell resolution across multiple areas of the mouse cerebral cortex. They found that, in unconscious states (sleep and anesthesia), unlike in the conscious state (wakefulness), functional cortical networks segregate into multiple subnetworks, while the neurons belonging to each subnetwork are spatially intermixed across cortical areas. By applying these findings, it may become possible to understand—at the cellular level—alterations in functional brain network architecture that have been clinically reported in conditions such as disorders of consciousness following brain injury, schizophrenia, and dementia. This work could contribute to earlier detection and to the development of cell-targeted therapeutic strategies. The study was published in Cell Reports.