Emery N. Brown

Statistician, Anesthesiologist, Neuroscientist

The Dynamics of the Unconscious Brain Under General Anesthesia

General anesthesia is a neurophysiological state in which a patient is rendered unconscious, insensitive to pain, amnestic and immobile, while being maintained physiologically stable. General anesthesia has been administered in the U.S. for more than 170 years, and daily, more than 700,000 people worldwide receive general anesthesia for surgery and diagnostic procedures. The advent of general anesthesia transformed surgery from trauma and butchery to a humane and often life-saving therapy. The mechanism by which anesthetic drugs create the stated general anesthesia has been considered one of the most significant mysteries of modern medicine.