Conscious processing: implications for general anesthesia

Purpose of review Can a general anesthetic binding to its membrane receptors alter global brain activity to cause loss of consciousness? Recent findings The identification of the neurobiological mechanisms of conscious processing in awake patients that are altered by general anesthetics and the atomic structure of the general anesthetic's binding site. Summary An important feature of general anesthesia is a preferential inhibition of global feedback connectivity when general anesthetics bind to allosteric sites of gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors present in the cerebral cortex.

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