State of consciousness

Specific predictive factors for outcome after surgical intervention have not been well defined in the literature. In one prospective, multicenter observational study of 95 patients, the state of consciousness was the only predictive factor retained in a logistic regression analysis." In this study, there was a 2.8-fold increased risk for poor outcome for each increase on a three-step scale (awake/drowsy, somnolent/ stuporous, and comatose), and good outcomes (modified Rankin Scale score <2) were achieved in 86%, 76%, and 47% of patients within each group, respectively. 

Backman, S. B., Fiset, P. Plourde, G. (2004). Cholinergic mechanisms mediating anesthetic induced altered states of consciousness. Prog. Brain Res. 145, 197-206. 

De Marco et al. 49 Paromomycin (open) 6-12 days NH3, state of consciousness, intellectual functions, behavior, neurological symptoms E Rif =E Par T Rif > Par... 

Reflection will show the potential pitfalls of either of these approaches. Neither is higher or better than the other. Direct doesn t mean quicker, nor does indirect mean that you reach the Goal incidentally. It comes down, in the end, to personal temperament and environment. Very, very few individuals are exclusively suited to one path or the other. Practitioners walking the direct path often use liturgical (ceremonial) devotions as part of their daily routine. Practitioners treading the indirect path find that states of consciousness, at first attained in ceremonial settings, later no longer need a ritual impetus to be experienced and that they can now enjoy these states by the direct path. 

Every power in the universe, every archangel, every god, every ar-chon, every demon, is both out there, as a cosmic function and within us. Every state of consciousness is reflected in us. Our dreams and nightmares are the frontiers of heaven and hell. Consequently, each and every human being has the innate capacity to be a Buddha or a Hitler. 

The following should be meditated upon from the viewpoint that what is described therein refers to a self-arising state of consciousness rather than to a constructed mental attitude. ... 

We understand many aspects of the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the human nervous system. The central points are the subjects of this chapter. As we come to understand them, much of great interest will be revealed to us. We will get important insights into how the nervous system functions and, in disease, malfunctions. We will also begin to understand why many molecules are effective in treatment of mental health disorders or induce abnormal states of consciousness in people. 

Rudyard Kipling, in hii gmt story of Hindu life, entitled "Ktpif1 speaks of (his practice familiar among Oriental people. He describes hli hero, attempting to gain this state of consciousness. We quote from this book, as follows i... 

Dreaming is a state of consciousness which has attracted considerable theoretical interest, perhaps mainly due to its phenomenological resemblance to some psychotic states. 

A state of consciousness depends on the intact function of the complex neural networks that underlie alertness, learning and memory. General anesthetics appear to interrupt synaptic transmission within these systems. Multiple ion channels and receptors that mediate and modulate synaptic transmission are putative targets for general anesthetics. All general anesthetics are not alike in the way they alter consciousness. For example, ketamine induces a state of... 

The state of conscious awareness, with orientation of self in time and space, depends on hnely tuned and accurately co-ordinated activity in multiple neuronal networks in the brain (Park Young, 1994). Such activity involves parallel processing in many cortical and subcortical pathways including arousal and memory systems (Chapters 3 and 4) and systems involved in mood (Chapters 5 and 18) and utilises an orchestra of many neurotransmitters. The whole ensemble appears to be synchronised by high frequency (40+ Hz) oscillatory electrical activity which binds the component parts together (Llinas et ah, 1998 Tallon-Baudry Bertrand, 1999). 

Let us consider two important factors, the two poles of the creation of art the artist on the one hand, and, on the other, the spectator, who later becomes the posterity. To all appearances, the artist acts like a mediumistic being who, from the labyrinth beyond time and space, seeks his way out to a clearing. If we give the attributes of a medium to the artist, we must then deny him the state of consciousness on the esthetic plane about what he is doing or why he is doing it. All of his decisions in the artistic execution of the work rest with pure intuition and cannot be translated into a self-analysis, spoken or written, or even thought out. ... 

Only during the past three decades has scientific study focused on the clinical effects of meditation on health. During the 1960s, it was reported that meditation masters in India could perform extraordinary acts of bodily control when they were in altered states of consciousness. These reports captured... 

A creative orientation has to be cultivated by altering one s attitudes, one s state of consciousness . The responsive-reactive orientation is more clearly characterized by the quotations in Box 3.4 than is the creative orientation. The outcomes of being creative are infinitely diverse and cannot be so readily pinned down into a brief caricature. Creative thinking emanates from a different state of mind to that which produces reactive thinking. The creative thinker has a different way of perceiving the world. 

---