Abstract
Working memory (WM) refers to the temporary storage and manipulation of information necessary for performance of complex cognitive tasks. There is a growing interest in whether and how propofol anesthesia inhibits WM function. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible inhibition mechanism of propofol anesthesia based on the functional connections of multi-local field potentials (LFPs) and behavior during WM tasks. Adult SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: pro group (0.5 mg·kg−1·min−1,2 h), PRO group (0.9 mg·kg−1·min−1, 2 h) and control group. The experimental data were 16-channel LFPs obtained at prefrontal cortex with implanted microelectrode array in SD rats during WM tasks in Y-maze at 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 hours (day 1-day 5) after propofol anesthesia, and the behavior results of WM were recoded at the same time. Directed transfer function (DTF) method was applied to analyze the connections among LFPs directly. Furthermore, the causal networks were identified by DTF. The clustering coefficient (C), network density (D) and global efficiency (Eglobal) were selected to describe the functional connectivity quantitatively. The results show that: comparing with the control group, the LFPs functional connectivity in pro group were no significantly difference (p>0.05); the connectivity in PRO group were significantly decreased (p<0.05 at 24 hours, p<0.05 at 48 hours), while no significant difference at 72, 96 and 120 hours for rats (p>0.05), which were consistent with the behavior results. These findings could lead to improved understanding the mechanism of inhibition of anesthesia on WM functions from the view of connections among LFPs.
Highlights
Propofol (2, 6-diisopropylphenol) is an intravenous anesthetic that has been used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia in clinical practice
We investigated whether the inhibition of propofol on Working memory (WM) was dose-dependent, the possible inhibition mechanism of propofol anesthesia based on the functional connections of multi-local field potentials (LFPs) and behavior during WM tasks at 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 hours after propofol anesthesia
Effects of propofol anesthesia on LFPs functional connectivity Time-frequency spectra had showed the gamma and theta rhythms of LFPs played a key role in WM task
Summary
Propofol (2, 6-diisopropylphenol) is an intravenous anesthetic that has been used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia in clinical practice. In recent years there are some research reports about memory dysfunction caused by propofol anesthesia, especially in elderly and pediatric patients[1,2,3,4]. This phenomenon has been observed in animal models. Propofol anesthesia decreased hippocampal cell proliferation and produced learning impairment in young rats [5]. A short-term propofol anesthesia of approximately 4.5 h duration induced histological neurodegeneration in the immature rat brain and led to persistent learning deficits [7]. The mechanisms of memory impairment induced by propofol remain unclear. Brain functional connectivity network analysis may render a new method to research the problem [8]
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