Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland.
Brain Cogn. 2011 Dec;77(3):327-34. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.09.002. Epub 2011 Oct 8.
Anesthetic-induced changes in the neural activity of the brain have been recently utilized as a research model to investigate the neural mechanisms of phenomenal consciousness. However, the anesthesiologic definition of consciousness as "responsiveness to the environment" seems to sidestep the possibility that an unresponsive individual may have subjective experiences. The aim of the present study was to analyze subjective reports in sessions where sedation and the loss of responsiveness were induced by dexmedetomidine, propofol, sevoflurane or xenon in a nonsurgical experimental setting. After regaining responsiveness, participants recalled subjective experiences in almost 60% of sessions. During dexmedetomidine sessions, subjective experiences were associated with shallower "depth of sedation" as measured by an electroencephalography-derived anesthesia depth monitor. Results confirm that subjective experiences may occur during clinically defined unresponsiveness, and that studies aiming to investigate phenomenal consciousness under sedative and anesthetic effects should control the subjective state of unresponsive participants with post-recovery interviews.
最近，人们利用麻醉诱导的大脑神经活动变化作为研究模型，来探究现象意识的神经机制。然而，麻醉学将意识定义为“对环境的反应能力”，这似乎回避了一个无反应的个体可能具有主观体验的可能性。本研究的目的是分析在非手术实验环境中，使用右美托咪定、丙泊酚、七氟醚或氙气诱导镇静和失去反应能力的情况下，参与者在恢复反应能力后，几乎有 60%的时间能回忆起主观体验。在右美托咪定组中，主观体验与通过脑电图衍生的麻醉深度监测仪测量的较浅“镇静深度”有关。结果证实，在临床定义的无反应状态下可能会出现主观体验，并且旨在研究镇静和麻醉作用下的现象意识的研究应该通过恢复后访谈来控制无反应参与者的主观状态。
