Although we still do not know much information still related to the functioning of the brain, such as the broad definition of consciousness, the neural code and the existence of connectivity between brain areas, we know of many specific patterns of brain functioning in different situations. Brain states are patterns of synchronous neural firing that reflect the electrical face of the brain. The brain's neural networks can support a variety of brain states with different patterns of activity, functional and dynamic connectivity. Their states of activity correspond largely to different levels of consciousness. Thus, wakefulness, REM sleep, slow-wave sleep and different forms of anesthesia and other unresponsive states emerge from modified versions of the same network. The network transitions between these states have an impact on processes ranging from homeostasis and synaptic plasticity to cognitive calculations.
In addition, the spectrum of consciousness-related phenomena is expanding rapidly: we are saving areas of the human brain from serious injury with the advancement of medicine and science, whether it is growing brain organoids in a vat or building intelligent machines that perform certain tasks more quickly and better than any healthy individual. Defining homeostatic neurophysiological patterns has become an important tool in science in order to have control data, that is, normal for comparison with data in pathological circumstances and brain states. An example of this is the types of waves observed in the electroencephalogram (EEG) data, which can define some brain states due to an individual's emotional and cognitive variation (Image below).