Comprehensive profiling of brain dynamics during anesthesia across phylogeny.

Anesthesia induces a conserved neural state across species, characterized by shorter timescales and reduced inter-regional synchrony, observed in humans, primates, rodents, fish, and nematodes.

• Why it matters: Understanding the fundamental neural mechanisms of anesthesia is crucial for improving clinical practices and elucidating brain function, yet cross-species conservation remains underexplored.
• What they did: The study analyzed over 6,000 neural features from multiscale recordings during wakefulness and anesthesia across six species, revealing a shared dynamical profile and its molecular correlates.
• The result: Findings demonstrate that anesthesia causes a universal pattern of neural isolation, which can be reversed by deep-brain stimulation, advancing insights into brain dynamics and potential therapeutic targets.