The cerebral effects of alpha2-agonists have been modestly studied in the clinical environment, and only in normal volunteers (13). As expected, cerebral blood flow decreased following initiation of the sedative, coincident with the expected diminishment of global cerebral metabolism. No studies have evaluated dexmedetomidine in patients suffering from neurological injury, the very population that may most benefit from the agent's sedative characteristics. Thus, it is imperative that a safety & efficacy study be carried out in a population of both medical and post-operative neuroscience patients. From an intraoperative perspective, dexmedetomidine has been effectively used as a sedative for both awake and sedation cases (1,2,4,16). Some evidence suggests prolonged cognitive deficits may persist beyond the sedative action of the drug (4).