Unconsciousness is a fundamental component of general anesthesia (GA), but anesthesiologists have no reliable ways to be certain that a patient is unconscious. To develop EEG signatures that track loss and recovery of consciousness under GA, we recorded high-density EEGs in humans during gradual induction of and emergence from unconsciousness with propofol. The subjects executed an auditory tas...

BACKGROUND Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are both potently inhibited by anesthetics and densely expressed in the thalamus. Brain imaging shows that thalamic activity suppression accompanies anesthetic-induced unconsciousness. Therefore, anesthetic-induced unconsciousness may involve direct antagonism of thalamic nicotinic receptors. The authors test this by separately attempting to...

As for the means, morphine in quickly cumulative doses is one of the best. Insulin produces unconsciousness easily; as little as 40 units may be fatal to a cachectic patient, while others need much more. Venesection is unreliable. Relatives should be warned that the patient is worse, and is reaching unconsciousness rapidly. One other point about such treatmentthe doctor should always give the d...