Recent neurophysiological data indicate that the human hippocampus maintains the capacity for high-order sensory processing and linguistic analysis during general anaesthesia-induced unconsciousness.

近期神經生理數據顯示，在全身麻醉誘導的無意識狀態下，人類的海馬體仍維持著高階感官處理與語言分析的能力。

The investigation sought to determine the extent to which complex information processing is contingent upon conscious awareness. Utilizing high-density Neuropixels microelectrodes, researchers recorded single-unit and local-field-potential activity in the hippocampus of seven patients undergoing anterior temporal lobectomies under propofol anaesthesia. This anatomical region is functionally distant from primary sensory cortices, rendering the persistence of complex processing particularly noteworthy.

本研究旨在確定複雜資訊處理在多大程度上依賴於意識覺知。研究人員利用高密度 Neuropixels 微電極，記錄了七名在丙泊酚麻醉下接受前顳葉切除術患者海馬體中的單一單元與局部場電位活動。該解剖區域在功能上與初級感官皮質相距甚遠，使得複雜處理的持續存在顯得尤為值得關注。

Experimental results from an auditory oddball task demonstrated that hippocampal neurons and local oscillations retained the ability to discriminate between standard and deviant tones. Notably, the decodability of these oddball stimuli increased over a ten-minute interval, suggesting the presence of representational plasticity in the unconscious state. This phenomenon was further analyzed via a recurrent neural network (RNN) model, which indicated that such learning is an emergent property of flexible tone discrimination, contingent upon inhibitory feedback mechanisms.

聽覺 Oddball 任務的實驗結果證明，海馬體神經元與局部振盪仍保有分辨標準音與偏差音的能力。值得注意的是，這些 Oddball 刺激的可解碼性在十分鐘間有所增加，顯示在無意識狀態下存在表徵塑性。此現象進一步透過循環神經網絡 (RNN) 模型進行分析，結果指出此類學習是靈活音調分辨的湧現屬性，並依賴於抑制性回饋機制。

Furthermore, the administration of natural language stimuli revealed that the anaesthetized hippocampus encodes semantic and grammatical features of speech. Analysis showed a significant correlation between neuronal firing rates and word lexical frequency, with the ability to decode semantic categories and parts of speech. The data further suggest a capacity for semantic contextualization, as neural responses corresponded to the semantics of both preceding and subsequent words. These findings parallel the activity observed in awake cohorts, suggesting that the fundamental mechanisms of linguistic parsing remain operational despite the absence of conscious experience.

此外，自然語言刺激的施予顯示，麻醉狀態下的海馬體會對語言的語義與語法特徵進行編碼。分析顯示神經元放電率與詞彙頻率之間存在顯著相關，且能解碼語義類別與詞類。數據進一步顯示其具備語義情境化能力，因為神經反應與前後詞的語義均相對應。這些發現與在清醒組中觀察到的活動平行，顯示儘管缺乏意識體驗，語言解析的基本機制仍維持運作。

The study concludes that high-level sensory integration and linguistic processing persist in the hippocampus during general anaesthesia, challenging the necessity of consciousness for complex cognition.

研究結論指出，在全身麻醉期間，海馬體中的高階感官整合與語言處理依然存在，挑戰了複雜認知必須具備意識的必要性。