As neuroscientist strive to demystify the workings of the nous , the pathways creditworthy for activate and deactivating consciousness have continued to evade them . However , a Stanford University - lead team of researchers conceive they may have now pinpointed the part of the genius responsible for shift awareness on and off . If confirmed by succeeding studies , this enquiry could lead to the development of fresh treatments for those suffering from consciousness - related disorders , such as unreasonable sleeping or even comatoseness .
The subject field – issue in the journaleLife – was inspired by two late cases in which doctors were able to alter the consciousness of patients . The first occurred in 2007 , when a man who had become minimally conscious following a wit injury was restored to full knowingness thanks to electrical stimulus of a brain neighborhood called thethalamus . This was follow up by a 2d font last year , when scientists in Washington DC wangle to deactivate an epileptic charwoman ’s consciousness , basically putting her to sleep , by stimulating herclaustrum , which is known tocommunicatewith the thalamus .
However , other than these two successes , most undertake to activate or deactivate cognisance have end in failure , concord toNew Scientist . This is mostly because thetechniquefor doing so is rather imprecise , and usually affect electrical stimulus of all-inclusive regions of the brain rather than specifically point neurons – primarily because the picky neurons involved in this process are not known .
In an attempt to figure out this mystifier , the team sought to control the neurons of the thalamus in the brains of lowlife , and then observe the across-the-board effects of this foreplay by perform functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) scans .
To do so , they used a technique called optogenetics , which involves implanting genes for light - activated proteins into the stinker ' neural cells , thus enabling these neurons to become stimulate by flashes of lightness .
The team find out that stir these neuron at a charge per unit of 10 times a second have the rats to lose consciousness , while raising this stimulus to between 40 and 100 time a 2d stir up them up .
keep an eye on the effects of this stimulation in the fMRI machine , they determine that the neuron of the thalamus pass along with a brain region called the zona incerta ( ZI ) , which play as a relay race between the thalamus and the cerebral mantle . Within the ZI are inhibitory neurons that reduce activity in the lens cortex when activated , thereby flip consciousness off .
When the thalamus was energise at grim levels , it caused the inhibitory cubicle in the ZI to become trip , although increase this input was detect to block their activity , thus explain the impression observed during the experiment . As such , the team concluded that the ZI act as a switch that regulates sensory processing throughout the cerebral cortex .
trail research worker Jin Hyung Lee told IFLScience that this inquiry " has immediate implication towards handle patients with traumatic wit injury , [ who are ] disable mainly by the fact that their alertness level is reduce . " As such , she explains that the next footstep is to look at how the ZI can be targeted in human trials in Holy Order to spring up encephalon stimulation therapy .
