Percolation Model of Sensory Transmission and Loss of Consciousness Under General Anesthesia

Phys Rev Lett. 2015 Sep 4;115(10):108103. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.108103. Epub 2015 Sep 4.

Abstract

Neurons communicate with each other dynamically; how such communications lead to consciousness remains unclear. Here, we present a theoretical model to understand the dynamic nature of sensory activity and information integration in a hierarchical network, in which edges are stochastically defined by a single parameter p representing the percolation probability of information transmission. We validate the model by comparing the transmitted and original signal distributions, and we show that a basic version of this model can reproduce key spectral features clinically observed in electroencephalographic recordings of transitions from conscious to unconscious brain activities during general anesthesia. As p decreases, a steep divergence of the transmitted signal from the original was observed, along with a loss of signal synchrony and a sharp increase in information entropy in a critical manner; this resembles the precipitous loss of consciousness during anesthesia. The model offers mechanistic insights into the emergence of information integration from a stochastic process, laying the foundation for understanding the origin of cognition.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Afferent Pathways / physiology
  • Anesthesia, General*
  • Cerebral Cortex / cytology
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiology
  • Consciousness / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Models, Neurological*
  • Nerve Net / physiology
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Synaptic Transmission / physiology*
  • Thalamus / cytology
  • Thalamus / physiology