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Anesthesia

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Neuroimaging of Consciousness

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Abstract

This chapter describes current knowledge about functional brain modifications observed during anesthesia-induced alterations of consciousness and places it into the context of consciousness physiology and anesthesia mechanisms. Anesthesia is a unique research tool for studying consciousness, insofar as it allows differentially and reversibly altering several of its constituents. Recent evidence suggests that anesthesia produces unconsciousness through a breakdown of connectivity into brain networks that are known to play a role in the emergence of mental content. These findings are in line with, and corroborate to some extent, current theories of conscious perception. Although anesthetic agents have effects on neural pathways controlling sleep and arousal, accumulating elements suggest that unconsciousness during general anesthesia occurs through mechanisms that are different from those of physiological sleep. Additional scientific exploration is still needed to understand the link between known biochemical targets of anesthetic agents, their effect on sleep-arousal systems, and the observed effects on consciousness networks. There is also a need for ­precising the exact sequence of events during transitions across consciousness states, for each type of anesthetic agents.

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Abbreviations

BOLD:

Blood oxygen level dependent

DMN:

Default mode network

ECN:

Executive control network

EEG:

Electroencephalogram

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

Glycine R:

Glycine receptor

HCN channels:

Hyperpolarization-activated cation channels

HDEEG:

High-density electroencephalography

m ACh R:

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor

n ACh R:

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

N2O:

Nitrous oxide

Na channels:

Presynaptic voltage-gated sodium channels

NIRS:

Near-infrared spectroscopy

n-REM:

Non-rapid eye movement

PET:

Positron emission tomography

REM:

Rapid eye movement

TMS:

Transcranial magnetic stimulation

VLPO:

Ventrolateral preoptic nucleus

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, CHR Citadelle, Boulevard du 12eme de Ligne, 1, Liege, 4000, Belgium

    Vincent Bonhomme

  2. Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, CHU Liege, Domaine Universitaire du Sart Tilman, B35, Liege, 4000, Belgium

    Vincent Bonhomme, Pierre Boveroux & Jean François Brichant

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  1. Vincent Bonhomme
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  2. Pierre Boveroux
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  3. Jean François Brichant
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Correspondence to Vincent Bonhomme .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Birmingham, Dept. Neuropsychiatry, Research Group BSMHFT, Vincent Drive 25, Birmingham, B15 2FG, United Kingdom

    Andrea Eugenio Cavanna

  2. University of Birmingham, Michael Trimble Neuropsychiatry, Research Group BSMHFT, Corso Brianza 26, Torino, 10153, Italy

    Andrea Nani

  3. , Department of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, Cedar Street 333, New Haven, 06520, Connecticut, USA

    Hal Blumenfeld

  4. , Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liège, Allée du 6 août 8, Liège, 4000, Belgium

    Steven Laureys

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Bonhomme, V., Boveroux, P., Brichant, J.F. (2013). Anesthesia. In: Cavanna, A., Nani, A., Blumenfeld, H., Laureys, S. (eds) Neuroimaging of Consciousness. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37580-4_10

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