Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
cerebral cortex, anesthetic induced unconsciousness, mice
College
Life Sciences
Department
Physiology and Developmental Biology
Abstract
General anesthetics are widely used today in medicine. Their molecular mechanisms however, still remain a mystery. For centuries, general anesthetics were thought to be “drugs without receptors” because of the lack of knowledge about their mechanism of action (Hemmings, et al., 2005). While some advances have been made by Neuroscientists and Biologists there is still a lot that is not known about general anesthetics. The exact location of general anesthetic action is thought to be complex, but two particular locations have been suggested—the cerebral cortex and the midbrain. Detailed understanding of where general anesthetics act is important because it would allow doctors to better control anesthetic side effects, patient awareness during surgery, and fatal allergic reactions to anesthesia. Furthermore, enhanced understanding of general anesthetics could play an important role in better understanding the human consciousness. The better we understand general anesthetics, the better we will understand consciousness and vice versa.
Recommended Citation
Martin, Ryan and Busath, David
(2013)
"The Cerebral Cortex as an Effect Site for Anesthetic Induced Unconsciousness,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013:
Iss.
1, Article 1503.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/1503