Harry Scheinin leads the Anesthesia Mechanisms Research Group at the University of Turku, Finland, and has studied the human neurobiology of anesthetic agents for 20 years. He has collaborated with Professor Antti Revonsuo since 2005.

We try to explore the neural correlates of human consciousness using, e.g., modern imaging methods. We aim to separate consciousness from responsiveness, connectedness from disconnection and to compare unconsciousness of physiological sleep with that induced by anesthetic agents. Finding new tools for the distinction of consciousness, connectedness and responsiveness would be groundbreaking and could represent a major leap forward in understanding human consciousness. The results could also help in developing new EEG-based methods to objectively measure consciousness and the depth of general anesthesia.