Escape from Oblivion: Innovative Experiment Shows How the Brain Reboots after Deep Anesthesia
martyb writes:
Escape From Oblivion: Innovative Experiment Shows How the Brain Reboots After Deep Anesthesia:
Millions of surgical procedures performed each year would not be possible without the aid of general anesthesia, the miraculous medical ability to turn off consciousness in a reversible and controllable way.
Researchers are using this powerful tool to better understand how the brain reconstitutes consciousness and cognition after disruptions caused by sleep, medical procedures requiring anesthesia, and neurological dysfunctions such as coma.
[...] In the study, 30 healthy adults were anesthetized for three hours. Their brain activity was measured with EEG and their sleep-wake activity was measured before and after the experiment. Each participant was given cognitive tests-designed to measure reaction speed, memory, and other functions-before receiving anesthesia, right after the return of consciousness, and then every 30 minutes thereafter.
[...] After the anesthetic was discontinued and participants regained consciousness, cognitive testing began. A second control group of study participants, who did not receive general anesthesia and stayed awake, also completed tests over the same time period.
Analyzing EEG and test performance, the researchers found that recovery of consciousness and cognition is a process that unfolds over time, not all at once. To the investigators' surprise, one of the brain functions that came online first was abstract problem solving, controlled by the prefrontal cortex, whereas other functions such as reaction time and attention took longer to recover.
The EEG readings revealed that the frontal regions of the brain were especially active around the time of recovery. Importantly, within three hours of being deeply anesthetized for a prolonged period of time, participants were able to recover cognitive function to approximately the same level as the group that stayed awake during that time. Furthermore, their sleep schedule in the days after the experiment did not appear to be affected.
Journal Reference:
George A Mashour, Ben JA Palanca, Mathias Basner, et al. Recovery of consciousness and cognition after general anesthesia in humans, (DOI: 10.7554/eLife.59525)
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