---
title: "Psych News Alert: Primitive Brain Responds First"
description: When people return to consciousness after receiving anesthesia, a more primitive area of their brains--the brainstem--becomes active first, ...
---

[Psych News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org)

# [Psych News Alert: Primitive Brain Responds First](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/primitive-brain-responds-first.html)

 Written by [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) | 6/4/12 4:00 AM

<https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/brainstemFINAL_23875681-Jun-24-2025-07-15-33-3124-PM.gif> When people return to consciousness after receiving anesthesia, a more primitive area of their brains--the brainstem--becomes active first, followed by the thalamus, the hypothalamus, and the anterior  cingulate cortex in the frontal lobe, a study reported April 4 in *The Journal of Neuroscience *has found. These brain structures thus appear to form a foundation for the conscious state, the scientists believe. The same structures also activate upon awakening from natural stage-two sleep. Other researchers have found that restored activity in the anterior cingulate cortex correlates with the level of responsiveness in brain-injured patients.

More information about the brain function of traumatic brain-injured patients can be found in *Psychiatric News* [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=1096615)*. * More information about traumatic brain injury in general can be found in the American Psychiatric Publishing [*Textbook of Traumatic Brain Injury*](http://www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=62357)*,* *Second Edition.*

(Image: Jeffrey Collingwood /Shutterstock.com)

[View full post](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/06/primitive-brain-responds-first.html)

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