Local orchestration of distributed functional patterns supporting loss and restoration of consciousness in the primate brain.
Nature communications March 11, 2024 Andrea I Luppi, Lynn Uhrig, Jordy Tasserie et al. 43 citations
Loss of consciousness under anesthesia increasingly constrains brain activity to follow the brain's physical structure, collapsing hierarchical cortical organization across scales. This effect was observed with three different anesthetics—propofol, sevoflurane, and ketamine—and was reversed by electrically stimulating the central thalamus, which also restored behavioral signs of arousal. Stimulating the ventral lateral thalamus did not produce these effects, showing specificity. The findings identify distributed brain signatures of consciousness that are orchestrated by particular thalamic nuclei.