But I think the point is that a bunch of anaesthetics (like halocarbon anaesthetics) very much don't bind to receptor sites in ion channels. One running hypoth

But I think the point is that a bunch of anaesthetics (like halocarbon anaesthetics) very much don't bind to receptor sites in ion channels. One running hypothesis IIRC is that they intercalate into the membranes and alter their membrane fluidity... Then underpants gnomes... Then "reduced ion channel activity". Iirc We know it's not something more obvious like "conductivity of the membrane" because that's easy to measure and the effect is not enough to explain the observation.