Pattern of brain chatter clue to anaesthesia response
Taking readings of brain activity before patients go for surgery could help doctors give a more accurate dose of anaesthetic, researchers suggest.
At present, a patient's body weight is the main factor in deciding the dose. But a University of Cambridge study indicated people with high levels of brain connectivity or "chatter" needed a larger dose to put them under. And this could help doctors work out exactly the amount of anaesthetic a patient requires to become unconscious.
The study, published in PLOS Computational Biology, looked at how the brain's electric signals changed in 20 healthy volunteers given a common anaesthetic called propofol. They were then asked to press different buttons when they heard different sounds. After reaching the maximum dose, some were still pressing buttons, while others were unconscious.
The "chatter" or connectivity between areas of the brain was much more pronounced in those who were still conscious. And when the research team looked at brain activity when the participants were awake, using readings from an electroencephalogram (EEG), they found similar differences.
Comments