Matt Banks, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Cortical Mechanisms of Loss, Recovery, and Altered States of Consciousness: Insights from Human Intracranial Electrophysiology
How consciousness emerges from the complex of interconnected networks in the brain is one of great unsolved mysteries in science. We seek to gain insight into this question by studying what changes in the brain during loss, recovery, and altered states of consciousness in neurosurgical patients implanted with intracranial electrodes while being evaluated for seizure resection surgery. We identify signatures of these changes by identifying common changes in brain activity and connectivity during sleep and anesthesia, two conditions in which consciousness is lost reversibly. In addition to elucidating the neural correlates of consciousness, our work is relevant to monitoring depth of anesthesia, and in the diagnosis, management and prognosis of pathological states of consciousness including central sleep disorders, delirium, vegetative or minimally conscious states, and coma.