The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Jacob A Donoghue
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Scott L Brincat
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Meredith Mahnke
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Jorge Yanar
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Ayan S Waite
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Mikael Lundqvist
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Jefferson Roy
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States; The Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States; The Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
The specific circuit mechanisms through which anesthetics induce unconsciousness have not been completely characterized. We recorded neural activity from the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices and thalamus while maintaining unconsciousness in non-human primates (NHPs) with the anesthetic propofol. Unconsciousness was marked by slow frequency (~1 Hz) oscillations in local field potentials, entrainment of local spiking to Up states alternating with Down states of little or no spiking activity, and decreased coherence in frequencies above 4 Hz. Thalamic stimulation ‘awakened’ anesthetized NHPs and reversed the electrophysiologic features of unconsciousness. Unconsciousness is linked to cortical and thalamic slow frequency synchrony coupled with decreased spiking, and loss of higher-frequency dynamics. This may disrupt cortical communication/integration.
