Propofol Sedation Alters Perceptual and Cognitive Functions in Healthy Volunteers as Revealed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Anesthesiology 2019 Aug;131(2):254-265
Date
07/18/2019Pubmed ID
31314747Pubmed Central ID
PMC6640651DOI
10.1097/ALN.0000000000002669Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85077347748 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 17 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: Elucidating networks underlying conscious perception is important to understanding the mechanisms of anesthesia and consciousness. Previous studies have observed changes associated with loss of consciousness primarily using resting paradigms. The authors focused on the effects of sedation on specific cognitive systems using task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging. The authors hypothesized deepening sedation would degrade semantic more than perceptual discrimination.
METHODS: Discrimination of pure tones and familiar names were studied in 13 volunteers during wakefulness and propofol sedation targeted to light and deep sedation. Contrasts highlighted specific cognitive systems: auditory/motor (tones vs. fixation), phonology (unfamiliar names vs. tones), and semantics (familiar vs. unfamiliar names), and were performed across sedation conditions, followed by region of interest analysis on representative regions.
RESULTS: During light sedation, the spatial extent of auditory/motor activation was similar, becoming restricted to the superior temporal gyrus during deep sedation. Region of interest analysis revealed significant activation in the superior temporal gyrus during light (t [17] = 9.71, P < 0.001) and deep sedation (t [19] = 3.73, P = 0.001). Spatial extent of the phonologic contrast decreased progressively with sedation, with significant activation in the inferior frontal gyrus maintained during light sedation (t [35] = 5.17, P < 0.001), which didn't meet criteria for significance in deep sedation (t [38] = 2.57, P = 0.014). The semantic contrast showed a similar pattern, with activation in the angular gyrus during light sedation (t [16] = 4.76, P = 0.002), which disappeared in deep sedation (t [18] = 0.35, P = 0.731).
CONCLUSIONS: Results illustrate broad impairment in cognitive cortex during sedation, with activation in primary sensory cortex beyond loss of consciousness. These results agree with clinical experience: a dose-dependent reduction of higher cognitive functions during light sedation, despite partial preservation of sensory processes through deep sedation.
Author List
Gross WL, Lauer KK, Liu X, Roberts CJ, Liu S, Gollapudy S, Binder JR, Li SJ, Hudetz AGAuthors
Jeffrey R. Binder MD Professor in the Neurology department at Medical College of WisconsinSuneeta Gollapudy MD Associate Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
William Gross MD, PhD Assistant Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Kathryn K. Lauer MD Vice Chair, Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Christopher J. Roberts MD, PhD Assistant Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultBrain
Cognition
Female
Humans
Hypnotics and Sedatives
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Propofol
Reference Values
Young Adult
