Title:Neural Substrates for the Regulation of Sleep and General Anesthesia
Volume: 20
Issue: 1
Author(s): Qianzi Yang, Fang Zhou, Ao Li and Hailong Dong*
Affiliation:
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an,
China
Keywords:
Sleep, anesthesia, neural circuits, wakefulness, unconsciousness, sleep-arousal regulatory nuclei.
Abstract: General anesthesia has been successfully used in clinics for over 170 years, but its mechanisms
of effect remain unclear. Behaviorally, general anesthesia is similar to sleep as it produces a
reversible transition between wakefulness and the state of being unaware of one’s surroundings. A
discussion regarding the common circuits of sleep and general anesthesia has been ongoing as an
increasing number of sleep-arousal regulatory nuclei are reported to participate in the consciousness
shift occurring during general anesthesia. Recently, with progress in research technology, both positive
and negative evidence for overlapping neural circuits between sleep and general anesthesia has
emerged. This article provides a review of the latest evidence on the neural substrates for sleep and
general anesthesia regulation by comparing the roles of pivotal nuclei in sleep and anesthesia.