Whether propofol-induced loss of consciousness (LOC) reflects a single thalamocortical transition or involves temporally dissociable local and interregional dynamics remains unclear. Using stereo-electroencephalography recordings from the anterior nucleus of the thalamus, prefrontal cortex, and temporal cortex during anesthesia induction, we quantified permutation entropy, spectral power,...
BACKGROUND: Disorders of consciousness (DoC) present significant therapeutic challenges with limited effective interventions. The choice of anesthetic agent during procedures such as spinal cord stimulation may influence long-term neurological outcomes, yet comparative evidence is scarce. This prospective, non-randomized, comparative effectiveness trial investigated the neurophysiological and...
Consciousness alterations occur across various states, encompassing changes in both arousal and awareness. The contributions of thalamic nuclei of consciousness remain incompletely understood. We analyzed fMRI data across general anesthesia (propofol N = 12, sevoflurane N = 12), disorders of consciousness (DoC) (minimally conscious state N = 9, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome N = 9), and...
The search for neurophysiological markers of consciousness and their neural substrates remains a focal point in neuroscience research. The integrated information theory (IIT) provides a promising quantitative framework for consciousness assessment, but computational limitations of existing Φ estimation methods hinder an in-depth understanding of large-scale cortical integration. Here, we...
Global signal regression (GSR) is widely used in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis, yet its effects on anesthetic-related brain activity are not well understood. Using fMRI data from patients under general anesthesia, we analyzed temporal variability indices, amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, functional connectivity, and graph theoretical measures with and without...
Identifying the state-related "neural correlates of consciousness" for anesthetics-induced unconsciousness is challenging. Spatiotemporal complexity is a promising tool for investigating consciousness. The authors hypothesized that spatiotemporal complexity may serve as a state-related but not drug-related electroencephalography (EEG) indicator during an unconscious state induced by different...
Information integration and network science are important theories for quantifying consciousness. However, whether these theories propose drug- or conscious state-related changes in EEG during anaesthesia-induced unresponsiveness remains unknown. A total of 72 participants were randomised to receive i.v. infusion of propofol, dexmedetomidine, or ketamine at a constant infusion rate until loss...
Objective: Constructing a framework to evaluate consciousness is an important issue in neuroscience research and clinical practice. However, there is still no systematic framework for quantifying altered consciousness along the dimensions of both level and content. This study builds a framework to differentiate the following states: coma, general anesthesia, minimally conscious state (MCS), and...