A transient cortical state with sleep-like sensory responses precedes emergence from general anesthesia in humans.
A transient cortical state with sleep-like sensory responses precedes emergence from general anesthesia in humans.
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DOI：
10.7554/elife.33250
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发表时间：
2018-08-10
期刊：
影响因子：
7.7
通讯作者：
Purdon PL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lewis LD;Piantoni G;Peterfreund RA;Eskandar EN;Harrell PG;Akeju O;Aglio LS;Cash SS;Brown EN;Mukamel EA;Purdon PL
During awake consciousness, the brain intrinsically maintains a dynamical state in which it can coordinate complex responses to sensory input. How the brain reaches this state spontaneously is not known. General anesthesia provides a unique opportunity to examine how the human brain recovers its functional capabilities after profound unconsciousness. We used intracranial electrocorticography and scalp EEG in humans to track neural dynamics during emergence from propofol general anesthesia. We identify a distinct transient brain state that occurs immediately prior to recovery of behavioral responsiveness. This state is characterized by large, spatially distributed, slow sensory-evoked potentials that resemble the K-complexes that are hallmarks of stage two sleep. However, the ongoing spontaneous dynamics in this transitional state differ from sleep. These results identify an asymmetry in the neurophysiology of induction and emergence, as the emerging brain can enter a state with a sleep-like sensory blockade before regaining responsivity to arousing stimuli. General anesthesia is essential to modern medicine. It allows physicians to temporarily keep people in an unconscious state. When infusions of the anesthetic drug stop, patients gradually recover consciousness and awaken, a process called emergence. Previous studies using recordings of electrical activity in the brain have documented spontaneous changes during anesthesia. In addition, the way the brain responds to sounds or other stimulation is altered. How the brain switches between the anesthetized and awake states is not well understood. Studying the changes that happen during emergence may help scientists learn how the brain awakens after anesthesia. A key question is whether the changes that occur during emergence are the reverse of what happens when someone is anesthetized, or whether it is a completely different process. Knowing this could help clinicians monitoring patients under anesthesia, and help scientists understand more about how the brain transitions into the awake state. Now, Lewis et al. show that people go through a sleep-like state right before awakening from anesthesia-induced unconsciousness. In the experiments, recordings were made of the electrical activity in the brains of people emerging from anesthesia. One set of recordings was taken in people with epilepsy, who had electrodes implanted in their brains as part of their treatment. Similar recordings of brain electrical activity during emergence were also made on healthy volunteers using electrodes placed on their scalps. In both groups of people, Lewis et al. documented large changes in electrical activity in the brain’s response to sound in the minutes before emergence. These patterns of electrical activity during emergence were similar to those seen in patients during a normal stage of sleep (stage 2). Patients who were about to wake up from general anesthesia had suppressed brain activity in response to sounds, such as their name. Moreover, this sleep-like state happened only during emergence, indicating it is a distinct process from going under anesthesia. The experiments also suggest that the brain may use a common process to wake up after sleep or anesthesia. More studies may help scientists understand this process and how to better care for patients who need anesthesia.
