--- title: Three anesthesia drugs all have the same effect in the... description: MIT researchers discovered that three commonly used anesthesia drugs — propofol, ketamine, and dexmedetomidine — all produce the same effect in the brain... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/three-anesthesia-drugs-all-have-the-same-effect-in-the-brain-mit-researchers-find-ryejd1jjf twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Three anesthesia drugs all have the same effect in the brain, MIT researchers find | daily.dev og:description: MIT researchers discovered that three commonly used anesthesia drugs — propofol, ketamine, and dexmedetomidine — all produce the same effect in the brain... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/three-anesthesia-drugs-all-have-the-same-effect-in-the-brain-mit-researchers-find-ryejd1jjf og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/ryEJD1jjF.png og:image:alt: Three anesthesia drugs all have the same effect in the brain, MIT researchers find og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Three anesthesia drugs all have the same effect in the brain, MIT researchers find **[MIT News](https://daily.dev/sources/mit)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MIT researchers discovered that three commonly used anesthesia drugs — propofol, ketamine, and dexmedetomidine — all produce the same effect in the brain despite having different molecular mechanisms. Each drug disrupts the brain's balance between stability and excitability, causing neural activity to destabilize until consciousness is lost. This 'universal signature' was identified using a computational model analyzing neural responses to auditory stimuli. The finding opens the door to a universal anesthesia monitoring system using EEG that could measure brain destabilization regardless of which drug is used, helping doctors administer just enough anesthesia to reduce risks like worsening dementia or neuropsychiatric conditions. A clinical trial of a prototype monitoring device is being planned. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Researchers discover advanced language processing in the unconscious human brain](https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-discover-advanced-language-processing-in-the-unconscious-human-brain-e9ykwrlke) · Hacker News · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [Cognition and consciousness arise from analog computations, says new theory](https://daily.dev/posts/cognition-and-consciousness-arise-from-analog-computations-says-new-theory-9ha0zfwt4) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Mind-altering substances are \(still\) falling short in clinical trials](https://daily.dev/posts/mind-altering-substances-are-still-falling-short-in-clinical-trials-wijnrniit) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [This tool could show how consciousness works](https://daily.dev/posts/this-tool-could-show-how-consciousness-works-d3b29ubj1) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The science of consciousness](https://daily.dev/posts/the-science-of-consciousness-sgrdbso2a) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#mit](https://daily.dev/tags/mit), [#brain-computer-interface](https://daily.dev/tags/brain-computer-interface) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/three-anesthesia-drugs-all-have-the-same-effect-in-the-brain-mit-researchers-find-ryejd1jjf) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Three anesthesia drugs all have the same effect in the brain, MIT researchers find","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/three-anesthesia-drugs-all-have-the-same-effect-in-the-brain-mit-researchers-find-ryejd1jjf","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/three-anesthesia-drugs-all-have-the-same-effect-in-the-brain-mit-researchers-find-ryejd1jjf"},"datePublished":"2026-03-17T15:10:36.169Z","dateModified":"2026-03-17T15:10:59.083Z","description":"MIT researchers discovered that three commonly used anesthesia drugs — propofol, ketamine, and dexmedetomidine — all produce the same effect in the brain...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/b08169dfb0ab3d007b5c29981af33c69?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/b08169dfb0ab3d007b5c29981af33c69?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"MIT News","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"MIT News","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/881e20a40aa44b12ba4bd27f5c14289d","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/mit"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/three-anesthesia-drugs-all-have-the-same-effect-in-the-brain-mit-researchers-find-ryejd1jjf","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"mit,brain-computer-interface","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MIT News","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/mit"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Three anesthesia drugs all have the same effect in the brain, MIT researchers find"}]} ```