June 2, 2021

Colleagues at the Center for Consciousness Science elucidate the timeline of neural and cognitive recovery from anesthesia

Escape from Oblivion: How the Brain Reboots after Deep Anesthesia!

 

 The study team sought to answer several fundamental questions: Just how does the brain wake up after profound unconsciousness—all at once or do some areas and functions come back online first? If so, which?

“How the brain recovers from states of unconsciousness is important clinically but also gives us insight into the neural basis of consciousness itself,” says George Mashour, the Robert B. Sweet Professor of Anesthesiology and chair of UM's Department of Anesthesiology.

After the anesthetic was discontinued and participants regained consciousness, cognitive testing began. A second control group of study participants, who did not receive general anesthesia and stayed awake, also completed tests over the same time period.

Analyzing EEG and test performance, the researchers found that recovery of consciousness and cognition is a process that unfolds over time, not all at once. To the investigators’ surprise, one of the brain functions that came online first was abstract problem solving, controlled by the prefrontal cortex, whereas other functions such as reaction time and attention took longer to recover.

To read more please visit the MBlog.

You could also read the article in eLife