Main description:

Anesthetics produce a reversible state of unconsciousness accompanied by ante- grade amnesia. This remarkable phenomenon brings great relief to surgical patients and wonder to clinicians and scientists. To date, we do not fully understand the mechanisms by which anesthetics ablate conscious sensation and memory. We are, however, making progress. This book presents original results as well as overviews of the current state of knowledge of the problem. It is authored by investigators who know the ?eld well; their research at a number of levels has contributed substantially to our c- rent understanding of anesthetic modulation of memory and consciousness. Most of the contributors were presenters at two workshops organized by Dr. Pearce and Dr. Hudetz at the 40th Annual Winter Conference on Brain Research, held at Snowmass Village, Colorado, from January 27 through February 2, 2007. One workshop focused on anesthetic modulation of consciousness and another on an- thetic modulation of memory. Seven of the chapters are based on material presented at these symposia - appropriately updated with new relevant ?ndings. This infor- tion is supplemented by chapters on anesthesia and sleep, computational analysis of the state of anesthesia, and the clinical phenomenon of "anesthesia awareness," a topic that has recently received much public attention. With these three additional contributions, the book thus includes 10 chapters.

Contents:

Foreword

Introduction - Anthony G. Hudetz, DBM, PhD and Robert A. Pearce, MD, PhD

Molecular targets of general anesthetics in the nervous system
Hugh C. Hemmings, Jr., MD, PhD

A neurochemical perspective on states of consciousness
Christopher J. Watson, PhD, Helen A. Baghdoyan, PhD, and Ralph Lydic, PhD

Anesthetic modulation of auditory perception: linking cellular, circuit and behavioral effects
Matthew I. Banks, PhD

Cortical disintegration mechanism of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness
Anthony G. Hudetz, DBM, PhD

Anesthesia and the thalamocortical system
Michael T. Alkire, MD

Anesthesia-induced state transitions in neuronal populations
Jamie Sleigh, MD, Moira Steyn-Ross, MSc, PhD, Alistair Steyn-Ross, MSc, PhD, Logan Voss, PhD, and Marcus Wilson, PhD

Anesthesia awareness: when the mind is not suppressed
George A. Mashour, MD, PhD

Loss of recall and the hippocampal circuit effects produced by anesthetics
M. Bruce MacIver, MSc, PhD

Modulation of the hippocampal theta rhythm as a mechanism for anesthetic-induced amnesia
Misha Perouansky, MD and Robert A. Pearce, MD, PhD

Propofol amnesia- what is going on in the brain?
Robert A. Veselis, MD and Kane O. Pryor, MD