Drug-induced coma: anesthesia
There’s a reason why the medical world are serious about putting you under general anesthetic before a surgery.
In a Reuters article, according to Dr Nicholas Schiff of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, it is more like a coma than a deep sleep. Despite this, doctors still refer to it as ‘putting you to sleep’.
Apparently, when you’re in a coma your brain operates on a specific phase dampening your neurons, whereas during sleep your brain goes through several phases. During general anesthesia, your brain operates on the same specific phase as it it would in a coma.