It's the stuff of nightmares: regaining consciousness while under general anesthesia.
But according to a group of doctors in Finland, it may be that we never fully lose consciousness under anesthesia. Two new studies, both published in the July issue of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, suggest that the brain is still partly conscious under the influence of anesthetics, even though the person who has taken the drug isn't reacting or seemingly aware.
"The brain is working more than we have thought during general anesthesia," said Dr. Harry Scheinin, an anesthesiologist at the Terveystalo Pulssi Hospital and adjunct professor at the University of Turku, both in Finland. But this "is not necessarily a problem." [Social Surgery: A Gallery of Live-Tweeted Operations]
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