Mechanism of Xenon Anesthetic Action in Spin-mediated Consciousness Theory & Its Experimental Support

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the mechanism of xenon anesthetic action in spin-mediated consciousness theory in light of the recent experimental findings of Li, et.al. on nuclear spins of xenon isotopes, xenon 131 and xenon 129, attenuating their anesthetic potency in mice. In the spin-mediated consciousness theory put forward in 2002, molecules containing unpaired electron spins, such as oxygen (O₂) and nitric oxide (NO), interact with the mind pixels comprised of various nuclear spins in neural membranes and proteins and activate the latter as one of the steps generating conscious experience. Therefore, general anesthetics such as xenon produce anesthesia by perturbing O₂ and/or NO pathways in neural membranes and proteins thus blocking and/or distorting their activation functions in consciousness. Naturally, the nuclear spins of xenon 131 and xenon 129 may partially play the activating roles of displaced O₂ and/or NO among other possibilities to be briefly discussed and, thus attenuate the anesthetic potency of nuclear-spin-carrying xenon isotopes.