CNS Neurosci Ther
May 1, 2026
Xuewei Qin, Xuanling Chen, Lan Yao et al.
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...
Communications Biology
December 18, 2025
Fa Lu, Juan Wang, Xuewei Qin et al.
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...
Neuroimage
July 18, 2025
Xin Wen, Yu Chang, Sijie Li et al.
1 citation
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...
Frontiers in Neuroscience
2025
Fa Lu, Lunxu Li, Juan Wang et al.
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...
Anesthesiology
May 1, 2024
Zhenhu Liang, Bo Tang, Yu Chang et al.
13 citations
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...
British Journal of Anaesthesia
March 1, 2024
Zhenhu Liang, Yu Chang, Xiaoge Liu et al.
10 citations
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...
IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering
January 8, 2020
Zhenhu Liang, Shuai Shao, Zhe Lv et al.
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...