SMRTR Science & EngineeringMay 6, 2026Scientific American

The brain processes overheard words under anesthesia, but it may not remember them

SMRTR summary

Even while fully unconscious under anesthesia, the brain's hippocampus keeps actively processing speech — recognizing words, categorizing their meaning, and even predicting what comes next. Despite this hidden activity, patients remembered nothing afterward, raising questions about what anesthetized patients should and shouldn't hear during surgery.

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