EVER WONDER?
Your brain during surgery 🧠
Anesthesia doesn’t just “put you to sleep.” It puts your brain into a very deep sleep, almost like a coma.
General anesthesia uses a mix of medicines to help your body during surgery. Some medicines help you fall asleep (hypnotics), some stop pain (opioids), some keep your body still (muscle relaxants), and others help your body stay safe, like keeping your heart beating normally.
Here’s what happens:
You’re not aware. The medicines stop parts of your brain from sending messages to each other, so you don’t notice what’s happening around you.
You’re fully unconscious. Your brain slows down much more than during normal sleep, so you don’t feel time passing.
You don’t make memories. The hippocampus (your memory center) is turned down, so you won’t remember the surgery.
You feel no pain. Some medicines quiet your brain, and others block nerves near where the surgery is. Together, they stop you from feeling pain.
When the medicines wear off, your brain wakes back up!