Consciousness Bottleneck: Out Like a Light

Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered a new cluster of neurons in the mesopontine tegmentum which seem to control the state of consciousness of the brain.

In an article published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists, Marshall Devor, the Cecile and Seymour Alpert Professor of Pain Research, graduate student Ruth Abulafia and research associate Dr. Vladimir Zalkind describe their discovery of an area of the brain that participates in the control of "alert status."...

.....microinjection of tiny quantities of certain anesthetic drugs into this newly discovered "center of consciousness" in laboratory rats induced a profound suppressive effect on the activity of the cerebral cortex.

.....this knowledge could contribute to the ability of medical science to treat disorders of consciousness and its loss, such as insomnia, excessive sleepiness and even coma. Perhaps by direct electrical stimulation of the cells in question, it might prove possible to arouse a patient from coma. _ScienceDaily

The scientists are describing this new nerve cluster as a controller of the "alert status" of the brain. Other localised brain centers -- such as the locus ceruleus -- are also important to the control of the level of alertness of the brain. We will have to wait and see whether other scientists can confirm these findings, and if so, how the new neuronal cluster connects with other, better known brain centers and regions. Since these findings come from the study of the rodent brain, the race will be on to find an analogous nerve cluster in the human brain.

Finding a safe method of reversibly turning out the lights in the brain would have profound implications far beyond safer methods of surgical anesthesia.