# Neuroimaging of Anesthetic Modulation of Human Consciousness

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $340,642

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
The overall goal of our work is to better understand the systems-level neuronal mechanisms by which general
anesthetics produce loss of consciousness. Our general hypothesis has been that anesthetics suppress
consciousness by disrupting the functioning of large-scale brain networks that support information integration
in the brain. The specific aims of the present proposal significantly advance and expand, both conceptually
and experimentally, our work conducted during the period of the first award. Specifically, we intend to test if
sedated participants who no longer respond behaviorally to spoken command are still able to perceive
and understand environmental signals and volitionally control their mentation in a task-related manner. We
will test this hypothesis by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) applied to assess the healthy
participants' (healthy volunteers) ability to generate willful, neuroanatomically specific, blood-oxygen-level
dependent (BOLD) responses during two established mental-imagery tasks (playing tennis and spatial
navigation). We hypothesize that under specific conditions of sedation, subjects will retain their capacity
for mental imagery despite their failure to initiate an overt response. If so, then the new findings may induce
a paradigm shift in the clinical assessment of consciousness in anesthesia. They would also establish
validation for monitoring disorders of consciousness and establish generality of the finding between
disorders of consciousness and general anesthesia. As a second aim, we intend to determine for the
first time, the neural conditions for the participants' ability for volitional mental imagery. We hypothesize
that spontaneous fluctuations of brain states during sedation directly influence and predict the participants'
ability for mental imagery. If confirmed, this would imply a novel causal link between the state of intrinsic
network activity and volitional mental activity in reduced states of consciousness. This would have
extremely important translational significance for optimizing brain-computer interfaces for the aid of
patients with behavioral compromise or reduced consciousness. Finally, in a third aim, we will determine the
neural correlates of distorted perception under sedation using complex, temporally structured stimuli such as
music. The latter studies should yield insight into how sedation may alter the temporal integration of complex
stimuli supporting conscious experience. Taken together, the project should significantly advance our
understanding of the fundamental neuronal mechanisms of anesthetic modulation of conscious
cognition with a significant translational and paradigmatic impact for the clinical assessment of the
state of consciousness and for the potential communication of patients via volitional mental activity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9920153
- **Project number:** 5R01GM103894-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Anthony George Hudetz
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $340,642
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-07-10 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9920153

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9920153, Neuroimaging of Anesthetic Modulation of Human Consciousness (5R01GM103894-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9920153. Licensed CC0.

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