RT Journal
A1 Hampton T
T1 ANesthesia and sleep circuits
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2012
FD December 12
VO 308
IS 22
SP 2326
OP 2326
DO 10.1001/jama.2012.77558
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.77558
AB 
Through staining experiments and electrophysiological studies, scientists from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania found that the anesthetic drug isoflurane boosts activity in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO), a sleep-promoting brain area within the hypothalamus. Both natural sleep and anesthetic-induced unconsciousness produced similar increases in numbers of active neurons in this region.