Abstract

SUAREZ-MORALES, Mario  and  MENDOZA-POPOCA, Cecilia Úrsula. Awareness of consciousness during anesthesia. Rev. mex. anestesiol. [online]. 2022, vol.45, n.4, pp.257-267.  Epub Feb 03, 2023. ISSN 0484-7903.  https://doi.org/10.35366/106345.

To define consciousness per se, involves a great difficulty because of its essence and the huge complexity regarding the great number of its components and the processes within. Consciousness, as a human characteristic, has been matter of large researching not only through a scientific approach, but also from the perspective of philosophic, religious, ethics investigations among others, including the distinction between consciousness and awareness. The trouble to define the foundation of consciousness implies a great challenge to get to know, what is happening during the anesthesia period. Through the understanding that has been accomplished by way of investigations concerning the different and complex functions of diverse neural structures such as the brain stem reticular formation, the thalamus, some parts of the striatum and the cerebral cortex among others, how they become connected by the neuronal nets who are compounded by nodes that have not only specific but a wide array of functions, capable of interconnect all these encephalic structures, even though they are far away, we know now with a good amount of certainty, where, how and how much the integrity of consciousness can be affected as a consequence of the different anesthetics effect.

Keywords : Anesthesia; consciousness; metastability; thalamus; cerebral cortex.