Cognitive unbinding: a neuroscientific paradigm of general anesthesia and related states of unconsciousness.
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews September 26, 2013 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.09.009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Humans Unconsciousness Anesthesia, general Cognition disorders Neurosciences Sleep Psychoanalysis Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome Cognitive binding Information integration Cognitive unbinding |
| Key points | Argues that cognitive unbinding, the impaired synthesis of specialized cognitive activities, is a parsimonious explanation for the direct mechanism (or "proximate cause") of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness across multiple drug classes, based on neuroimaging and neurophysiology evidence. Proposes that the framework is also relevant to sleep, disorders of consciousness, and psychological processes, and concludes it is a viable neuroscientific framework across anesthesiology, sleep neurobiology, neurology, and psychoanalysis. |
Abstract
"Cognitive unbinding" refers to the impaired synthesis of specialized cognitive activities in the brain and has been proposed as a mechanistic paradigm of unconsciousness. This article draws on recent neuroscientific data to revisit the tenets and predictions of cognitive unbinding, using general anesthesia as a representative state of unconsciousness. Current evidence from neuroimaging and neurophysiology supports the proposition that cognitive unbinding is a parsimonious explanation for the direct mechanism (or "proximate cause") of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness across multiple drug classes. The relevance of cognitive unbinding to sleep, disorders of consciousness, and psychological processes is also explored. It is concluded that cognitive unbinding is a viable neuroscientific framework for unconscious processes across the fields of anesthesiology, sleep neurobiology, neurology and psychoanalysis.
Citations in the library
Cited by 22
- Theories of consciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 1, 2022
- Self unbound: ego dissolution in psychedelic experience Neuroscience of Consciousness 2017
- Disconnecting Consciousness: Is There a Common Anesthetic End Point? Anesthesia & Analgesia June 23, 2016
- Foundations of Human Consciousness: Imaging the Twilight Zone. Journal of Neuroscience February 24, 2021
- Accelerated Recovery of Consciousness after General Anesthesia Is Associated with Increased Functional Brain Connectivity in the High-Gamma Bandwidth Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience March 23, 2017
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Cites 15
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