> Wiest and his research team found that when they gave rats a drug that binds to microtubules, it took the rats significantly longer to fall unconscious under

> Wiest and his research team found that when they gave rats a drug that binds to microtubules, it took the rats significantly longer to fall unconscious under an anesthetic gas. This seems to be confounding wakefulness and consciousness. While we do use the term unconscious to refer to the state induced by general anesthesia, and conscious to its opposite, to me that is different from and much less interesting than the experience of consciousness.