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anesthesia

·May 12, 2025·6 min read

Brain Wave Phase Locking May Be Key to Unconsciousness

Despite acting through different molecular mechanisms, ketamine and dexmedetomidine both disrupt brain wave phase alignment in ways that reliably induce unconsciousness. A new study reveals that these anesthetics trigger a common signature: increased phase locking at low frequencies, particularly between brain hemispheres, while disrupting local cortical communication.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 22, 2025·7 min read

Reading Brainwaves to Fine-Tune Consciousness in Surgeries

A new clinical trial shows that using EEG to guide anesthesia in children significantly reduces the amount of anesthetic needed while improving post-surgery recovery. By monitoring brain wave patterns, anesthesiologists maintained safe unconsciousness with lower doses of sevoflurane, leading to faster awakening and fewer cases of post-anesthesia delirium.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 7, 2024·8 min read

How Conscious Thought Fades Under Anesthesia

A new study has shown that conscious thought relies on synchronized brain rhythms to maintain communication between sensory and cognitive brain regions. Under general anesthesia, this rhythm-based communication breaks down, disrupting the brain's ability to detect and process surprising stimuli.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·July 15, 2024·5 min read

Anesthesia Induces Unconsciousness by Destabilizing Brain Activity

Neuroscientists have discovered that the anesthesia drug propofol causes unconsciousness by disrupting the brain's balance between stability and excitability. The drug leads to increasingly unstable brain activity, preventing the brain from maintaining normal consciousness.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 20, 2024·4 min read

Microglia Are Key Players in Awakening the Brain Post-Anesthesia

Microglia, the central nervous system's immune cells, are crucial in helping the brain recover from anesthesia. By interacting directly with brain circuits and inhibitory synapses, microglia work to counteract sedation effects, offering new insights into managing post-anesthesia delirium and hyperactivity.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 12, 2023·3 min read

Predisposition to Accidental Awareness Under Anesthesia Identified

As many as one in four patients who receive anesthesia may suffer accidental awareness during their procedure. Researchers have identified specific brain structures that may predict whether a person will experience accidental awareness under anesthesia. The findings will help identify patients who require higher than average doses of anesthesia.

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Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·October 11, 2022·5 min read

Why Are Sounds Not Perceived Under Anesthesia?

Under anesthesia, neuron assemblies that respond to sound become indistinguishable from spontaneously active neurons. Findings suggest the state of unconsciousness produced by anesthesia forces the cerebral cortex to mask sensory input with spontaneous neural activity.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·May 24, 2022·4 min read

Rhythmical Deep Sleep

Researchers investigate the influence anesthesia has on brain functions.

This shows cannabis leaves in a person's hands

Featured Neuroscience

·May 22, 2022·2 min read

Cannabis Users Require More Sedation for Endoscopy

Cannabis users undergoing gastric endoscopy procedures generally require more sedation than non-cannabis users, researchers report.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 12, 2022·5 min read

When Unconscious, the Brain Is Anything but ‘Silent’

Some neurons in the cerebral cortex show higher spontaneous activity during general anesthesia than when awake, and this activity is synchronized across the cortical cells.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·September 13, 2021·3 min read

Mimicking Nature to Provide Long-Lasting Local Anesthesia

A new bio-inspired slow-release system for site 1 sodium channel blockers helps release anesthesia, providing prolonged nerve blocking with minimal toxicity.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·September 3, 2021·6 min read

Statistical Model Defines Ketamine Anesthesia’s Effects on the Brain

A new statistical model lays groundwork for understanding how ketamine induces an anesthetic response, steps to monitor unconscious patients, and provides new information about brain activity while unconscious.

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anesthesia

Brain Wave Phase Locking May Be Key to Unconsciousness

Reading Brainwaves to Fine-Tune Consciousness in Surgeries

How Conscious Thought Fades Under Anesthesia

Anesthesia Induces Unconsciousness by Destabilizing Brain Activity

Microglia Are Key Players in Awakening the Brain Post-Anesthesia

Predisposition to Accidental Awareness Under Anesthesia Identified

Why Are Sounds Not Perceived Under Anesthesia?

Rhythmical Deep Sleep

Cannabis Users Require More Sedation for Endoscopy

When Unconscious, the Brain Is Anything but ‘Silent’

Mimicking Nature to Provide Long-Lasting Local Anesthesia

Statistical Model Defines Ketamine Anesthesia’s Effects on the Brain

Music and Nature Work in Harmony to Ease Stress and Lift Mood

Listening to Music After 70 May Cut Dementia Risk by Nearly 40%

Brain Circuits Split Food Choices Between Sugar and Fat Cravings

Alzheimer’s Disrupts Brain’s Internal Clock, Unraveling Gene Rhythms

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