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General anesthesia also stops brain activity, and you can die during open heart surgery. The time of death won't be the time of loss of consciousness. It is ab
by pygy_ 12y ago
General anesthesia also stops brain activity, and you can die during open heart surgery. The time of death won't be the time of loss of consciousness.
It is about conserving information. As long as your brain can be turned back on you're still alive.
- Crito 12y agoDo you have a source for that? Obviously it suspends consciousness, in a more dramatic way than even falling asleep, but I find it difficult to believe that all brain functions are suspended. At the very least, with some varieties of general anesthesia, the brain stem keeps vital functions working. Edit: Looking at wikipedia a bit, it looks like "brain death" is currently defined as including a dead brain stem. Kind of seems like an ethical gray area when the cerebrum really is dead (non-recoverable), not merely suspended. Still, I'm not convinced that general anesthesia fully suspends the cerebrum. I believe at least some forms merely suspend the ability to form memories.
- pygy_ 12y agoThe brainstem is not needed to sustain the heart beat and blood pressure. It participates in its regulation, but both parameters have "sane defaults" without any input. Furthermore, while necessary, the brainstem is not sufficient to sustain consciousness. Third, phenobarbital at a sufficient dose completely wipes electric brain activity (metabloism goes on, at a lower pace). Fourth, even if you suspend someone using the procedure described in the article, there is still residual biologic activity in the cells. Chemical reactions are slowed down, but not stopped.