The Neural Mechanisms of Anesthesia and Human Consciousness (Part 6)

Summary

Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) studies will be carried out to reveal the neural correlates of consciousness. Consciousness of the subjects will be manipulated with anesthetic agents dexmedetomidine, propofol, S-ketamine and sevoflurane. One-hundred-and-sixty (160) healthy male subjects will be recruited to receive EC50 concentration of the anesthetic (40 dexmedetomidine, 40 propofol, 20 S-ketamine, 40 sevoflurane) or placebo (20) while being imaged for cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMRglu). Also genetic, immunological and metabolomics samples will be taken and analysed to find possible genetic factors explaining the variability in drug response and to find chemical fingerprints of acute drug effect.

Conditions

• Anesthesia
• Unconsciousness

Interventions

DRUG

Dexmedetomidine

Intravenous infusion

DRUG

Propofol

Intravenous infusion

DRUG

S-ketamine

Intravenous infusion

DRUG

Sevoflurane

Inhalation

DRUG

Placebo

Intravenous infusion of saline (Ringer's Acetate)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Irvine

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Michigan

  collaborator OTHER

• Yale University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Helsinki

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Turku

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Harry Scheinin, MD · Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

30 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-01-31

Primary Completion

2017-03-13

Completion

2017-03-13

Countries

• Finland

Study Locations