Despite its long history, scientists have only just begun to unravel the mysteries of sedation.
, scientists showed that the drugs work by interacting with the brain’s cell receptors and changing how neurons fire. When a person is awake, neurons in their brain communicate by firing signals through electrical impulses. Anesthetics disrupt this communication, and in doing so, change a person’s awareness.
Then in 2021, two key studies helped to explain why different drugs produce different neurological effects. In one, to analyze the brain rhythm activity of nine humans and two macaque monkeys. They connected the subjects to an electroencephalographic monitor and gave each ketamine, an anesthetic.While under the influence, the EEG showed that the subjects had high-frequency neuron oscillation, higher than the normal range for consciousness. This meant the neurons couldn’t communicate as they would during a conscious state.
When the neurons’ communication becomes disrupted, a person lacks consciousness. “The communication in the brain is sufficiently turned off,” Brown says. “You are not aware [of] what is happening and you are not forming any memories of what is happening.” Although the ability to communicate is turned off, he adds, the brain itself is not turned off.
“[The drugs] change the dynamics, move oscillations out of a certain range, and then parts of the brain can no longer communicate,” he says. Communication is blurred and indecipherable. Brown likens it to a melody that becomes one, long monotone sound. And it’s an effect that happens quickly — he says drugs like propofol work within 10 to 15 seconds of administration. “It’s extremely quick. That’s why it’s so dangerous. These things are super potent.
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