New study finds key links between comas and general anaesthesia

Researchers have published a study which establishes important links between comas and the state of general anaesthesia.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine paper, a team of scientists conducted a review of recent studies in the fields of coma, anaesthesia and sleep, finding many more similarities between the first two states than the latter two.

The research revealed that brain patterns seen in comatose and anaesthetised patients are similar, as are many of the mechanisms that occur when moving in and out of either state.

It is hoped that by examining these mechanisms, scientists can gain insight into creating new ways to aid sleep or help patients to emerge from comas.

Study co-author Dr Nicholas Schiff, a professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College, said: "By reframing these phenomena in the context of common circuit mechanisms, we can make each of these states understandable and predictable."

Earlier this month, the Age reported that a study in Australia has shown that medically-induced comas can help brain injury patients to recover more effectively when administered at the scene of the incident.