Wed, 28 Apr 2021 09:20 UTC Simultaneous measurement of neural rhythms and spikes across five brain areas in animals reveals how propofol induces unconsciousness.
In a uniquely deep and detailed look at how the commonly used anesthetic propofol causes unconsciousness, a collaboration of labs at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT
shows that as the drug takes hold in the brain, a wide swath of regions become coordinated by very slow rhythms that maintain a commensurately languid pace of neural activity. Electrically stimulating a deeper region, the thalamus, restores synchrony of the brain s normal higher frequency rhythms and activity levels, waking the brain back up and restoring arousal.