Terrifying accounts of surgery 200 years ago remind us how far general anaesthesia has come. Yet we still know little about how anaesthetics alter consciousness.
Measuring certain kinds of brain activity may help doctors track and predict how patients will react to anaesthesia before going under for surgery, our research has found.
Going under a general anaesthetic usually involves sensory checks such as getting you to count down as you lose consciousness. After that an anaesthesiologist will continually monitor your response and…