title: General anesthesia: activating a sleep switch?
abstract: A widely used general anesthetic directly depolarizes sleep-promoting cells in the brain at doses that produce unconsciousness. The activation of an endogenous sleep pathway likely plays a role in general anesthesia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. ksolt@partners.org
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Solt
mesh_terms: D000777:Anesthetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D006221:Halothane / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006991:Hypnosis, Anesthetic; D007530:Isoflurane / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics; D007530:Isoflurane; D006221:Halothane