Feedback suppression in anesthesia. Is it reversible?
Consciousness and Cognition September 8, 2009 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2009.08.004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Human volunteers |
| Intervention | Propofol |
| Measures | EEG feedback connectivity |
| Keywords | Cerebral cortex Frontal lobe Parietal lobe Nerve net Humans Propofol Anesthetics, intravenous Electroencephalography Cortical synchronization Anesthesia, general Brain mapping Infusions, intravenous Consciousness Wakefulness Signal processing, computer-assisted Feedback, physiological |
| Key points | Loss of consciousness from a bolus of propofol was accompanied by reduced wide-band EEG feedback connectivity from frontal to parietal cortex, consistent with a prediction from prior studies. Frontoparietal feedback connectivity did not fully recover when the anesthetic effect wore off and subjects first opened their eyes to a verbal command. |
Abstract
Information processing that subserves conscious cognitive functions is thought to involve recurrent signaling through feedforward and feedback loops among hierarchically arranged functional regions of the cerebral cortex. In the current issue of Consciousness and Cognition, Lee et al. report that loss of consciousness, as produced by a bolus injection of the general anesthetic propofol to human volunteers, was accompanied by a decrease in wide-band EEG feedback connectivity from frontal cortex to parietal cortex, confirming a prediction from previous experimental studies. Interestingly, frontoparietal feedback connectivity did not fully recover after the anesthetic effect wore off and the subjects first opened their eyes in response to a verbal command. Possible interpretations of the results and their implications with respect to the neural correlates of consciousness and unconsciousness are discussed.
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Unresponsiveness ≠ Unconsciousness Anesthesiology February 7, 2012
- Disconnecting Consciousness: Is There a Common Anesthetic End Point? Anesthesia & Analgesia June 23, 2016
- Investigating the effects of nitrous oxide sedation on frontal-parietal interactions. Neuroscience Letters June 9, 2017
- Specific and nonspecific thalamocortical functional connectivity in normal and vegetative states. Consciousness and Cognition November 13, 2010