SMRTR Science & EngineeringJun 1, 2026Science News

A tiny part of your brain may still listen under anesthesia

SMRTR summary

While patients were fully under general anesthesia, individual neurons in their hippocampi could detect unexpected sounds, decode language, and even predict upcoming words — complex tasks scientists believed required consciousness. This challenges major theories about what the unconscious brain can do, raising a profound question: if awareness isn't needed for these functions, what exactly is consciousness for?

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