Paradoxical pharmacological dissociations result from drugs that enhance delta oscillations but preserve consciousness

Joel Frohlich; Pedro A M Mediano; Francesco Bavato; Alireza Gharabaghi

doi:10.1038/s42003-023-04988-8

Paradoxical pharmacological dissociations result from drugs that enhance delta oscillations but preserve consciousness

Commun Biol. 2023 Jun 20;6(1):654. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-04988-8.

Authors

Joel Frohlich¹, Pedro A M Mediano^{2

3}, Francesco Bavato⁴, Alireza Gharabaghi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology, University Hospital and University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany. jfneuro@pm.me.
² Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁴ Experimental and Clinical Pharmacopsychology, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁵ Institute for Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology, University Hospital and University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.

Abstract

Low-frequency (<4 Hz) neural activity, particularly in the delta band, is generally indicative of loss of consciousness and cortical down states, particularly when it is diffuse and high amplitude. Remarkably, however, drug challenge studies of several diverse classes of pharmacological agents-including drugs which treat epilepsy, activate GABA_B receptors, block acetylcholine receptors, or produce psychedelic effects-demonstrate neural activity resembling cortical down states even as the participants remain conscious. Of those substances that are safe to use in healthy volunteers, some may be highly valuable research tools for investigating which neural activity patterns are sufficient for consciousness or its absence.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Consciousness* / physiology
Epilepsy*
Humans