Cited by 92Anesthesia and Sedative AgentsAnesthesia and Neurotoxicity ResearchPhilosophy and Theoretical Science

Cognitive unbinding: a neuroscientific paradigm of general anesthesia and related states of unconsciousness

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Mashour, George A.·2013·Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Abstract

"Cognitive unbinding" refers to the impaired synthesis of specialized cognitive activities in the brain and has been proposed as a mechanistic paradigm of unconsciousness. This article draws on recent neuroscientific data to revisit the tenets and predictions of cognitive unbinding, using general anesthesia as a representative state of unconsciousness. Current evidence from neuroimaging and neurophysiology supports the proposition that cognitive unbinding is a parsimonious explanation for the direct mechanism (or "proximate cause") of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness across multiple drug classes. The relevance of cognitive unbinding to sleep, disorders of consciousness, and psychological processes is also explored. It is concluded that cognitive unbinding is a viable neuroscientific framework for unconscious processes across the fields of anesthesiology, sleep neurobiology, neurology and psychoanalysis.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.09.009

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  • Preservation of local neuronal activity with system-wide functional uncoupling is consistent with cognitive unbinding theory.

    “the preservation of local neuronal activity in the setting of functional uncoupling across the system is consistent with the predictions of the cognitive unbinding theory of general anesthesia [158]”

    From The Biology of General Anesthesia from Paramecium to Primate (2019) · cites this paper as [158]

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Authors
Mashour, G. A.
Affiliations
University of Michigan (US)
Corresponding author
Mashour, George A.
Venue
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-12
Volume
37
Issue
10
Pages
2751-2759
ISSN
0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2058577273
Cited by
92
References
71
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 13 · 2012: 1
FWCI
2.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • James S. McDonnell Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Anesthesia and Sedative Agents
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
Keywords
general anesthesia, loss of consciousness, anesthetic-induced unconsciousness, sleep, disorders of consciousness, cognitive integration, anesthetic mechanisms, psychoanalysis
MeSH terms
Anesthesia, General, Cognition Disorders, Humans, Neurosciences, Unconsciousness

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