在20世纪的绝大部分时间里,科学家们在很大程度上一直对这些争论视若无睹。但是,1994年美国亚利桑那大学(University of Arizona)举行的一场跨学科会议第一次将科学家和哲学家们聚在了一起。这次会议引发人们就麻醉和意识之间的联系展开了持续的研究。该校意识研究中心(Center for Consciousness Studies)的主任斯图尔特·哈姆鲁夫(Stuart Hameroff)是这次会议的组织者。他告诉我,麻醉是可解释科学家们为何需要思考意识问题的绝佳例子。他说,单凭患者无法对疼痛作出反应并不足以判定他已经失去了意识。
That's because, while you need a brain to have consciousness, you might not need a brain to experience pain. In the 1990s, scientists ran tests on rats and goats, studying how the effects of anesthetics changed as different parts of the brain were intentionally damaged or removed. The amount of the drugs necessary to prevent the animals from moving in response to pain didn't change as the cortex, the thalamus and the brain stem were destroyed. "Turns out, they were measuring a spinal-cord reflex, which is a much more primitive thing and has nothing to do with consciousness," Hameroff said. Outward signs of consciousness may or not may not have anything to do with actual awareness.
这是因为,虽然保持意识需要大脑,但感受痛苦却未必需要大脑的参与。20世纪90年代,科学家们在大鼠和山羊身上进行试验,他们故意损伤或去除了不同的大脑部位,然后研究麻醉剂的作用发生了怎样的改变。当皮层、丘脑和脑干受损后,要防止动物因疼痛而挣扎所需的药物剂量并没有发生改变。“事实证明,他们之前检测的只是脊髓反射,这是一种非常原始的反应,跟意识没有任何关系,”哈姆鲁夫说。意识的外在表现与真正的觉醒状态之间可能存在关联,也可能完全是两码事。
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