Similarities and differences between natural sleep and urethane anesthesia.
Scientific reports May 25, 2025 Jurij Brankačk, Yevgenij Yanovsky, Adriano B L Tort et al. 6 citations
Slow oscillations in the brain’s parietal cortex during urethane anesthesia differ fundamentally from those during natural non-REM sleep in mice, despite appearing similar on the surface. Differences are evident in the local field potential, the underlying current sources, and the modulation of unit activity. The data show that slow network oscillations in natural sleep and anesthesia are generated by different mechanisms, challenging the assumption that anesthesia reliably models sleep-related brain activity. This work highlights that phenomenological similarities can mask distinct neural processes, with implications for using anesthesia as a model for sleep and consciousness studies.