Neuronal network modelling of the effects of anaesthetic agents on somatosensory pathways

 The whole question of consciousness, awareness and depth of anaesthesia is both timely, little understood and deeply challenging. Models of the underlying neural pathway mechanisms/dynamics are necessary for understanding the interactions involved and their structure and function. A neuronal network of the somatosensory pathways is proposed in this paper based on experimental information and physiological investigation into anaesthesia. Existing mathematical neuronal models from the literature have been modified and then employed to describe the dynamics of the proposed pathway network. Effects of anaesthetic agents on the cortex were simulated in the model which describes the evoked cortical responses. By comparison with responses from anaesthetised rats, the model's responses are able to describe the dynamics of typical responses. Thus, the proposed model promises to be valuable for investigating the mechanisms of anaesthesia on the cortex and the effects of brain lesions.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Biomechatronic Engineering, National Chiayi University, 300 University Road, Chiayi 600, Taiwan, , , , , , TW

   C. H. Ting

2. Centre for Research into Anaesthetic Mechanisms, Department of Biomedical Science, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK, , , , , , GB

   A. Angel

3. Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK, , , , , , GB

   D. A. Linkens

Received: 4 March 2002 / Accepted in revised form: 8 July 2002

Correspondence to: D. A. Linkens (e-mail: d.linkens@sheffield.ac.uk, Tel.: +44-114-2225133, Fax: +44-114-2731729)

Acknowledgements. C.H. Ting was supported by a postgraduate scholarship from the University of Sheffield.

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