New findings awaken age-old anesthesia question
Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 07:04
in Biology & Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- Why does inhaling anesthetics cause unconsciousness? New insights into this century-and-a-half-old question may spring from research performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Scientists from NIST and the National Institutes of Health have found hints that anesthesia may affect the organization of fat molecules, or lipids, in a cells outer membranepotentially altering the ability to send signals along nerve cell membranes.