ReviewFrontiers in systems neuroscience2014
Top-down mechanisms of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness.
Review in Frontiers in systems neuroscience, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03140982 (Is Anesthetic Loss of Consciousness a Cortical or Brainstem Phenomenon? What Does the Neurological Examination Say?), which is not on this map. Cited by 70 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Is Anesthetic Loss of Consciousness a Cortical or Brainstem Phenomenon? What Does the Neurological Examination Say?
Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed.
- Interpretable Machine Learning Identifies an Emergent Absence Seizure Mechanism.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Propofol-induced loss of responsiveness reorganizes cortical traveling waves in the human brain.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Neural Circuit Mechanisms of General Anaesthesia Induction: Current Advances and Future Directions.Current neuropharmacology · 2026Review
- Orexin signalling in the nucleus accumbens promotes arousal from isoflurane anaesthesia and restores communication between the nucleus accumbens and frontal cortex.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Article
- Article
- Modulation of Auditory Novelty Processing by Dexmedetomidine and Natural Sleep: A Human Intracranial Electrophysiology Study.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- High-precision neural information detection of multiple brain regions in mice under different concentrations of isoflurane anesthesia based on microelectrode arrays.Microsystems & nanoengineering · 2025Article
- Neural Network Mechanisms Underlying General Anesthesia: Cortical and Subcortical Nuclei.Neuroscience bulletin · 2024Review
- Anesthesia and the neurobiology of consciousness.Neuron · 2024Review
- Article
- Propofol Disrupts the Functional Core-Matrix Architecture of the Thalamus in Humans.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Ventrolateral periaqueductal gray GABAergic neurons promote arousal of sevoflurane anesthesia through cortico-midbrain circuit.iScience · 2023Article
- Analogous cortical reorganization accompanies entry into states of reduced consciousness during anesthesia and sleep.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2023Article
- On the Functional Role of Gamma Synchronization in the Retinogeniculate System of the Cat.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2023Article
- Early-Life Stress Impairs Perception and Neural Encoding of Rapid Signals in the Auditory Pathway.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2023Article
- Ketamine triggers a switch in excitatory neuronal activity across neocortex.Nature neuroscience · 2023Article
- Selective corticocortical connectivity suppression during propofol-induced anesthesia in healthy volunteers.Cognitive neurodynamics · 2022Article
- Reduced neural feedback signaling despite robust neuron and gamma auditory responses during human sleep.Nature neuroscience · 2022Article
- General anesthesia globally synchronizes activity selectively in layer 5 cortical pyramidal neurons.Neuron · 2022Article
- The Consciousness of Pain: A Thalamocortical Perspective.NeuroSci · 2022Article
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
The question of how structurally and pharmacologically diverse general anesthetics disrupt consciousness has persisted since the nineteenth century. There has traditionally been a significant focus on "bottom-up" mechanisms of anesthetic action, in terms of sensory processing, arousal systems, and structural scales. However, recent evidence suggests that the neural mechanisms of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness may involve a "top-down" process, which parallels current perspectives on the neurobiology of conscious experience itself. This article considers various arguments for top-down mechanisms of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness, with a focus on sensory processing and sleep-wake networks. Furthermore, recent theoretical work is discussed to highlight the possibility that top-down explanations may be causally sufficient, even assuming critical bottom-up events.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.