Symposium 1 Talk 2: Boly

Tuesday, July 3 2012 11:00-13:00 @ Dome Theatre

Symposium 1: "Consciousness fading"
Talk 2: “Is propofol-induced loss of consciousness a sleep-like state?”

Melanie Boly (Coma Science Group, University of Liege, Belgium)

SUMMARY

Mechanisms of propofol-induced fading of consciousness, as well as the relationship between propofol anesthesia and sleep remains poorly understood. We will review recent neuroimaging studies investigating neural correlates of loss of consciousness during propofol sedation and non-REM sleep. We will then highlight some commonalities as well as observed differences in terms of spontaneous EEG, or functional and effective connectivity (using high-density EEG, functional MRI or TMS-EEG) between propofol and non-REM sleep. Finally, we will discuss the implications of these results for neural correlates of consciousness and for their use as clinical tools to detect awareness during anesthesia, and in other altered consciousness states.