According to the report, the study researchers conducted imaging studies on volunteers under anesthesia to assess how different areas of the brain reacted as the volunteers lost and regained consciousness. The researchers found that different drugs create different patterns. For example, the widely-used anesthetic propofol first causes a state of excitation. The brain starts to slow down as a higher dose of the drug is administered.
Ketamine, which is used with anesthesia to improve the efficacy of certain drugs, puts the brain into a state of excitation even at higher doses. Researchers say this level of brain activity often causes hallucination or a sense of euphoria in patients.
Researchers say looking further into brain activity caused by certain anesthetics could help determine how best to use those anesthetics for patient care.
Read the NPR report on how anesthesia works.
Related Articles on Anesthesia:
Plastic Surgeon Questions Awake Surgery Using Local Anesthesia
Study: Anesthesia Event Reporting System Increased Events Captured Almost Two Fold
Study: Dreaming in Sedation More Common With Propofol Versus Midazolam
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