Cited by 391Anesthesia and Sedative AgentsSleep and Wakefulness ResearchAnesthesia and Neurotoxicity Research

Toward a unified theory of narcosis: Brain imaging evidence for a thalamocortical switch as the neurophysiologic basis of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness

Alkire, M.T., Haier, R.J., Fallon, J.H.·2000·Consciousness and Cognition

Abstract

A unifying theory of general anesthetic-induced unconsciousness must explain the common mechanism through which various anesthetic agents produce unconsciousness. Functional-brain-imaging data obtained from 11 volunteers during general anesthesia showed specific suppression of regional thalamic and midbrain reticular formation activity across two different commonly used volatile agents. These findings are discussed in relation to findings from sleep neurophysiology and the implications of this work for consciousness research. It is hypothesized that the essential common neurophysiologic mechanism underlying anesthetic-induced unconsciousness is, as with sleep-induced unconsciousness, a hyperpolarization block of thalamocortical neurons. A model of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness is introduced to explain how the plethora of effects anesthetics have on cellular functioning ultimately all converge on a single neuroanatomic/neurophysiologic system, thus providing for a unitary physiologic theory of narcosis related to consciousness.

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Crossref · 10.1006/ccog.1999.0423

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  • The thalamus is a critical neuroanatomical target of general anesthetics in mammals and has been proposed as a switch for anesthetic state transitions.

    “The thalamus has long been considered a critical neuroanatomical target of general anesthetics in mammals and has been proposed as a “switch” for anesthetic state transitions [126].”

    From The Biology of General Anesthesia from Paramecium to Primate (2019) · cites this paper as [126]

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Authors
Alkire, M. T., Haier, R. J., & Fallon, J. H.
Affiliations
University of California, Irvine (US)
Corresponding author
Alkire, M.T.
Venue
Consciousness and Cognition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2000-09
Volume
9
Issue
3
Pages
370-386
ISSN
1053-8100 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1990752984
Cited by
391
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 19
FWCI
14.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Consciousness and Cognition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Anesthesia and Sedative Agents
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity Research
Keywords
general anesthesia, anesthetic-induced unconsciousness, narcosis, thalamocortical neurons, thalamus, midbrain reticular formation, consciousness, sleep, volatile anesthetics
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Anesthesia, General, Cerebral Cortex, Energy Metabolism, Female, Halothane, Humans, Isoflurane, Male, Mesencephalon, Neural Pathways, Reticular Formation, Thalamus, Tomography, Emission-Computed, Unconsciousness, Anesthetics, Inhalation, Fluorodeoxyglucose F18

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