Anesthesia and the Soul

© G.M. Woerlee

 

Thoughts, memories, emotions, and personality; all these things are properties of the mind. These properties of the mind drive all conscious movements, speech, actions, and deeds. Many people believe the mind is part of the soul, or that the soul is the vehicle of the mind, which is why they believe the soul controls all conscious movements, speech, actions, and deeds. Indeed, most religions implicitly propagate this belief by telling their followers that the soul will be rewarded or punished for an eternity in an everlasting life after death for the thoughts, speech, and deeds of the body during this earthly life. This belief permeates the collective thought processes of nearly all societies. A very good example of this thought system is given by these passages in the Islamic Koran.

18. Seest thou not that to Allah bow down in worship all things that are in the heavens and on earth,- the sun, the moon, the stars; the hills, the trees, the animals; and a great number among mankind? But a great number are (also) such as are fit for Punishment: and such as Allah shall disgrace,- None can raise to honour: for Allah carries out all that He wills.
19. These two antagonists dispute with each other about their Lord: But those who deny (their Lord) - for them will be cut out a garment of Fire: over their heads will be poured out boiling water.
20. With it will be scalded what is within their bodies, as well as (their) skins.
21. In addition there will be maces of iron (to punish) them.
22.Every time they wish to get away therefrom, from anguish, they will be forced back therein, and (it will be said), "Taste ye the Penalty of Burning!"
23. Allah will admit those who believe and work righteous deeds, to Gardens beneath which rivers flow: they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearls; and their garments there will be of silk.
24. For they have been guided (in this life) to the purest of speeches; they have been guided to the Path of Him Who is Worthy of (all) Praise. (Koran 22:18-24)

But does the soul interact with the body to control the body? This is an important question, because if the control exerted by the mind over the body can only be explained by a soul, then it is possible that each person really does have a soul, and that a life after death is possible. Now we know the soul is immaterial, because we cannot see, touch, smell, or sense the soul with any physical organ or sense. Nor can we photograph or detect the soul with any physical measuring instrument. All this means that if an immaterial truly exists, then we cannot directly observe or detect any control exerted by the soul over the body.

Control by the soul and automobiles

Accordingly it is only possible to study the control exerted by the soul over the body by examining observable manifestations of this control: by observing movements, speech, actions, and deeds. This is analogous to observing the control exerted by a driver over an automobile. A driver controls an automobile through the mechanisms of the automobile. If the mechanisms of the automobile function normally, then the driver can exert normal control over the automobile. The automobile manifests this normal control by starting, moving, turning, and stopping in a manner determined by the driver. But changes in the functioning of the mechanisms of the automobile may render the control exerted over the automobile by the driver imperfect, as a result of which the automobile starts, moves, turns, and stops in an abnormal and uncontrolled manner. Malfunction or damage of the mechanisms of the automobile may be even be such that the driver is unable to exert any control over the automobile at all. All this means that the control exerted by the driver over the automobile is expressed through the mechanisms of the automobile, and the functioning of the mechanisms of the automobile express the control exerted by the driver. A study of the consequences of various types of malfunction of the mechanisms of an automobile will reveal the location of the driver, as well as the necessity for a driver to control the automobile.

The relationship of the soul to the body is similar to that of a driver and an automobile. The soul exerts control over the body through the mechanisms of the body, and the functioning of the mechanisms of the body express the control exerted by the soul. Accordingly, a study of how anesthesia induced malfunction of body mechanisms affect the control exerted over the body by the soul will reveal those parts of the body where the soul exerts control over the body, as well as the existence of the controlling influence of the soul.

Those who believe in the reality of an immaterial and immortal soul believe the soul controls all movements, all speech, all actions, and all deeds. Bodily movements, speech, actions, and deeds are visible, audible, detectable, and measurable. Accordingly, this belief means that movements, speech, actions, and deeds are the visible, audible, detectable, and measurable manifestations of the control exerted by the soul over the body. Muscles are the mechanisms of the body causing all body movements, because muscle movements produce all speech, muscle movements produce all actions, and muscle movements produce all deeds. So if the soul initiates and controls all conscious movements, speech, actions, and deeds, then the soul initiates, as well as controls the movements of muscles generating movements, speech, actions, and deeds.

The soul and the chain of control

The idea of moving, speaking, performing an action, or performing a deed arises within the mind. The conscious idea, the will to do any of these things manifests as nerve activity within the "supplementary motor cortex". The supplementary motor cortex transmits nerve signals to the appropriate sections of an adjacent part of the brain called the "primary motor cortex". The primary motor cortex translates the will to do these things into nerve signals activating specific groups of muscle movements. Nerve fibers conduct these nerve signals from the primary motor cortex into the spinal cord. Here these nerve fibers connect with other nerve fibers to form the nerves departing from the spinal cord to all parts of the body. These nerves make contact with the muscles of the body, transmitting nerve signals arising within the brain to these muscles, and these muscles respond, generating the intended movements, speech, actions, and deeds. This is how the conscious will to move, speak, act, or perform deeds finally manifests as the muscle movements generating the intended movements, speech, actions, and deeds. Furthermore, this is the chain of control of muscle movements, from the idea of moving, to the final execution of the movements.

A step-by-step study of each level of this chain of control of muscle movement reveals how changes in the functioning of nerves and muscles induced by anesthetic drugs and techniques affects the possible control exerted by the soul over bodily movements. This analysis enables a determination of the possible places in the body where the soul exerts control over the body, and whether the soul actually exerts any control over the body at all.

Curare and the soul

An example of a low level of control exerted by the mind over muscles is manifested at the places where nerve fibers make contact with muscles. Curare is a muscle-paralyzing drug used as part of a standard combination of anesthetic drugs. Curare causes muscle paralysis, but curare does not affect the muscle cells, nor does curare affect the brain, the spinal cord, or the nerves controlling and activating the muscles of speech, breathing, or voluntary movement. Instead, curare blocks the transmission of nerve signals controlling and activating the muscles of speech, breathing, and voluntary movements at the places where nerve fibers make contact with the muscles performing all these actions. This means that even though people are totally paralyzed after administration of sufficient curare, they are still fully conscious and aware, even though they cannot speak, cannot breathe, and cannot move, no matter how hard they try. The mind is supposed to be part of the soul, and the soul supposedly controls the body, yet the soul is unable to activate and move the muscles of the bodies of people to whom curare has been administered, no matter how hard these people may try to speak, breathe, or move. During 1947 an anesthesiologist studied the effects of curare upon himself (Smith 1947). One of his colleagues administered curare in increments until the anesthesiologist was totally paralyzed, and he required artificial respiration. The anesthesiologist described his experiences at each level of paralysis. He also described that no matter how hard he tried, he could not move any muscle. These effects of curare show that the soul must use the mechanisms of the body to control the body, as well as showing that the functioning of the mechanisms of the body affects the expression of any control exerted over the body by the soul. In addition, the effects of curare prove that the soul exerts no control over the body at the places where nerve fibers make contact with muscles, nor does the soul directly control and activate the muscles themselves.

Spinal anesthesia and the soul

An example of a higher level of control by the mind over movements is manifested at the spinal cord. Spinal anesthesia is a common form of anesthesia. A needle is inserted between the vertebrae of the back, and a local anesthetic drug injected into the spinal canal between the nerves coming from the spinal cord. The local anesthetic drug blocks the flow of nerve signals within the nerves inside the spinal canal at the point where the local anesthetic drug is administered. This means that spinal anesthesia blocks nerve signals transmitted from the brain to the muscles of the affected part of the body, as well as blocking the flow of sensory nerve signals from the affected part of the body to the brain. The combined effect of these two things results in anesthesia of the part of the body supplied by the blocked nerves. Spinal anesthesia is often used to anaesthetize the lower half of the body. People are fully awake under spinal anesthesia. They feel normal sensations in the upper half of their bodies, and can talk and breathe, as well as move their upper bodies, but feel no sensations from the lower parts of their bodies, because the nerves transmitting sensory information from the lower half of their bodies are anaesthetized. They also cannot move the muscles of the lower half of their bodies, because the nerves activating the muscles of the lower half of their bodies are anaesthetized. Spinal anesthesia effectively paralyses and removes all sensations from the lower half of the body. So when a leg of a person under spinal anesthesia is lifted up, these people are often surprised. They cannot feel any sensations from their legs, and are surprised when they see their leg, often exclaiming: "Is that my leg? It doesn't feel like my leg!" They often try to move their raised leg, but the anaesthetized leg does not move, no matter how hard they try to move it. Only after the effects of the local anesthetic drug have disappeared, can these people feel sensations in their legs again, and move their legs again. The mind is supposed to be part of the soul, and the soul supposedly controls the body, but these effects of spinal anesthesia clearly demonstrate that the soul can only exert control over the body through the mechanisms of the body. If this were not so, then the control exerted by the soul could bypass those parts of the spinal canal where the conduction of nerve signals is blocked by the local anesthetic drug. But this does not occur, which means that the effects of spinal anesthesia show that the soul exerts no control over the body below the level of the spinal cord. In addition, the effects of spinal anesthesia also show that the functioning of the mechanisms of the body affects the expression of any control exerted over the body by the soul.

Control by the soul exerted somewhere in the brain

An example of an even higher level of control exerted by the mind over the body is seen within the brain. The primary motor cortex generates coordinated movements directed by conscious will. Damage or malfunction of the primary motor cortex causes paralysis of the muscles controlled by the damaged or malfunctioning regions of the primary motor cortex. People cannot move muscles controlled by malfunctioning, damaged, or destroyed regions of the primary motor cortex, no matter how hard they try to move these muscles. Malfunction of the left primary motor cortex causes paralysis of the entire right side of the body, while malfunction of the right primary motor cortex causes paralysis of the entire left side of the body.

In the past, neurologists and neurosurgeons contemplating major brain operations for unmanageable epilepsy would inject a small dose of a powerful anesthetic drug (10% sodium amylobarbitone solution) into either the left or right internal carotid artery to determine the effect of removal of large parts of either the left or right cerebral hemisphere. The principle underlying this procedure was simple. Most of the blood flowing through the right carotid artery flows into the right cerebral hemisphere (see image of injection of radioconstrast in the right carotid artery), and most of the blood flowing through the left internal carotid artery flows into the left cerebral hemisphere. Rapid injection of a small dose of sodium amylobarbitone in an internal carotid artery only affected the cerebral hemisphere on that side, and had no effect on thalamic or brainstem functions (Seraftenides 1965). The effects of such a rapid injection of sodium amylobarbitone into an internal carotid artery is a dramatic failure of cerebral hemisphere function on that side of the brain without loss of consciousness, and always manifesting as sudden temporary paralysis of the opposite side of the body. Persons undergoing this type of study were unable to move the paralyzed halves of their bodies no matter how hard they tried to move the affected parts of their bodies (Seraftenides 1965). The mind is supposed to be part of the soul, and the soul supposedly controls the body, but the soul cannot arouse movements in the paralyzed muscles of a person whose cerebral hemisphere malfunctions. So the effects of cerebral hemishpere malfunction prove that the soul must use the mechanisms of the body to exert control over the body, and also prove that the functioning of the mechanisms of the body affects the expression of any control exerted over the body by the soul. In addition, the effects of cerebral hemisphere malfunction that the soul does not exert any control over the body outside the brain to move the paralyzed muscles.

Changed mental function due to anesthetic drugs

But the mind, which many people believe to be part of the soul, is more than just the idea of moving, the will to move, or the ability to move. Mind is more than just speech, movements, and deeds. Mind is the sum total of all consciousness, thoughts, intellect, memories, emotions, and personality. These aspects of mental function are what drive the conscious voluntary muscle movements generating movements, speech, actions, and deeds. And anesthetic drugs such as opiates, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and etomidate, propofol, and anesthetic vapors all alter mental function. All these drugs cause sedation with a consequent reduction in spontaneity and personality. Opiates do the same, but also reduce pain. This is strange. Throughout all the millennia of human belief in the reality of the soul, people have always believed the soul is unaffected by things affecting the body. This is a very understandable belief, because the body is material, as are these anesthetic drugs. But the soul is supposedly immaterial, so anesthetic drugs affecting the material body should not affect the immaterial soul. Accordingly, those who believe in the reality of the soul do not believe that anesthetic drugs can affect the immaterial soul. Indeed, the holy books of all religions also propagate the belief that the things affecting the body do not affect the soul. The Hindu holy book called the 'Bhagavad Gita' expresses this belief very explicitly, saying:

The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. (Bhagavad Gita 2.23)

Another passage in the Bhagavad Gita further emphasises the fact that things affecting the material body do not affect the immaterial soul.

This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same. (Bhagavad Gita 2.24)

All this means that anesthetic drugs should not affect mental function, if mental function is indeed a property of the immaterial mind. One explanation is that anesthetic drugs induce changes in the functioning of the brain, so altering the manifestations of the control exerted over the brain by the soul. Another explanation is that the mind is a product of the functioning of the brain, which is why anesthetic drugs affect the functioning of the mind.

Consciousness and anesthesia

There is another important aspect to control of the body by the soul. People must be conscious to have conscious thoughts, or conscious will, as well as to consciously express their thoughts, emotions, and personality, by their speech, actions, and deeds. In other words, consciousness is required to manifest all properties of the mind. Many people believe consciousness is a property of the soul, believing that the soul generates the phenomenon of consciousness in the mortal body. Nonetheless, the soul must use the mechanisms of the body to generate consciousness. The effects of general anesthetic drugs all prove this.

General anesthesia is usually initiated by injecting drugs directly into a vein in an arm or hand. Everyone is unconscious twenty to forty seconds after administration of these drugs. All such general anesthetic drugs induce temporary unconsciousness by causing temporary malfunction of those brainstem functions generating consciousness. Some people struggle, and try their utmost to resist losing consciousness to the effects of these anesthetic drugs, but no-one ever succeeds, everyone loses consciousness. There are two possible explanations for the loss of conscious resulting from brainstem malfunction caused by these anesthetic drugs. One explanation is that such brainstem malfunction proves that any control exerted over the body by the soul is expressed through the mechanisms of the body, and that the functioning of the mechanisms of the body affects the expression of any control exerted over the brain by the soul. Another explanation is that the functioning of the brainstem generates consciousness, which is why brainstem malfunction induced by anesthetic drugs causes unconsciousness.

No soul

These are a few examples of the effects that anesthetic drug induced malfunction or disease have upon control exerted over the body by the mind as manifested by movements, speech, actions, and deeds. Everyday experience, everyday observation, and repeated experiment, prove these things again and again. These observations are facts. These observations all prove that if the mind is an aspect of the soul, then the soul only exerts control over the body through the mechanisms of the body, and that the functioning of the mechanisms of the body alters the bodily manifestations of the control exerted over the body by the soul. These facts raise the question of whether the soul exerts any control over the body at all. After all, it is possible to explain all these observations of the effects of changes in body and brain function by saying that the mind is an expression of the functioning of the brain. And indeed, the effects of anesthetic drugs on the right and left cerebral hemispheres, as well as on the brainstem, demonstrate that there is no place within the brain where the soul exerts a controlling influence.

All these studies make only one conclusion possible - the effects of anesthetic drugs on different parts of the body demonstrate that there is no part of the body through which the soul exerts a controlling influence over the body. So if there is anything like an immaterial soul, then this soul certainly exerts no control over the body. All this proves that the soul is not the vehicle of the mind and the generator of consciousness, but that the brain is the generator of consciousness, as well as the generator of all properties of the mind. This explains why changes in the functioning of the brain and body alter the functioning of the mind, as well as all observable manifestations of the control exerted over the body by the mind, such as conscious movements, speech, actions, and deeds.

(N.B. The majority of the content on this page is copied and paraphrased from Chapter 6, "Control by the Soul", in the book "Mortal Minds" published in 2005. Read this book to learn more about the relationship between the body and the possible existence of an immaterial and immortal soul.)

 

 

© G.M. Woerlee | last updated 5 August 2009