Brain Science: Extras to EEG Frequency/Wave for Consciousness, Anesthesia and Bioelectricity

Interpretations from EEG montages may include the calibrations or qualifiers that assemble consciousness.

Photo credit: iStock

By David Stephen

There is a topical feature in Scientific American, Consciousness Is a Continuum, and Scientists Are Starting to Measure It: A new technique helps anesthesiologists track changes in states of consciousness, stating that, “For instance, consciousness can be connected to the environment through our senses and behavior (connected consciousness), as in most of our waking hours, or disconnected from our surroundings (disconnected consciousness), as when we dream during sleep. Unconsciousness — as when someone is in a coma — is more difficult to study than connected or disconnected consciousness, but it is generally understood as a state of oblivion, void of subjective experience or memory. When we prepare a patient for surgery, we adjust the levels of anesthetic to render them unconscious. When someone is under general anesthesia, they are experiencing a temporary and reversible coma during which they feel no pain and after which they will have no memories of their procedure.”

“Generally, researchers track the onset of sedation by issuing verbal commands…