The Entwined Mysteries of Anesthesia and Consciousness
Anesthesiology July 25, 2006 DOI: 10.1097/00000542-200608000-00024 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 130 |
| Key points | Argues that general anesthetics prevent consciousness through extremely weak London forces acting in hydrophobic pockets within dendritic proteins arrayed in synchronized brain systems, and proposes that this same mechanism may underlie consciousness itself. The author contends that understanding this shared mechanism could explain both how anesthetics act and why we are conscious. |
Abstract
THE mechanism by which general anesthetics prevent consciousness remains unknown largely because the mechanism by which brain physiology produces consciousness is unexplained. But the two mysteries seem to share a critical feature—both consciousness and actions of anesthetic gases are mediated through extremely weak London forces (a type of van der Waals force) acting in hydrophobic pockets within dendritic proteins arrayed in synchronized brain systems. Unraveling this common thread may reveal not only how anesthetics act, but also why we are conscious in the first place. What is anesthesia?
Citations in the library
Cited by 21
- Consciousness in the universe: a review of the 'Orch OR' theory. March 1, 2014
- Consciousness lost and found: subjective experiences in an unresponsive state. Brain and Cognition December 1, 2011
- Near Death Experiences: A New Algorithmic Approach to Verifying Consciousness Outside the Brain NeuroQuantology May 26, 2010
- Understanding the Consciousness Field The Open Information Science Journal February 8, 2011
- It’s Cells All the Way Down October 5, 2023
and 16 more in the library
Cites 5
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