Resting-state functional connectivity in early postanaesthesia recovery is characterised by globally reduced anticorrelations

Abstract

Background: A growing body of literature addresses the possible long-term cognitive effects of anaesthetics, but no study has delineated the normal trajectory of neural recovery attributable to anaesthesia alone in adults. We obtained restingstate functional MRI scans on 72 healthy human volunteers between ages 40 and 80 (median: 59) yr before, during, and after general anaesthesia with sevoflurane, in the absence of surgery, as part of a larger study on cognitive function postanaesthesia. Methods: Region-of-interest analysis, independent component analysis, and seed-to-voxel analysis were used to characterise resting-state functional connectivity and to differentiate between correlated and anticorrelated connectivity before, during, and after general anaesthesia. Results: Whilst positively correlated functional connectivity remained essentially unchanged across these perianaesthetic states, anticorrelated functional connectivity decreased globally by 35% 1 h after emergence from general anaesthesia compared with baseline, as seen by the region-of-interest analysis. This decrease corresponded to a consistent reduction in expression of canonical resting-state networks, as seen by independent component analysis. All measures returned to baseline 1 day later. Conclusions: The normal perianaesthesia trajectory of resting-state connectivity in healthy adults is characterised by a transient global reduction in anticorrelated activity shortly after emergence from anaesthesia that returns to baseline by the following day. Clinical trial registration: NCT02275026.

Brain network integration dynamics are associated with loss and recovery of consciousness induced by sevoflurane

“…Sevoflurane reversibly induces loss of consciousness in humans, and is widely used in clinical practice. In the past decade, there have been growing efforts to understand its effects on the human brain (Blain‐Moraes et al, 2017; Deshpande, Kerssens, Sebel, & Hu, 2010; Huang et al, 2016; Kafashan, Ching, & Palanca, 2016; Martuzzi, Ramani, Qiu, Rajeevan, & Constable, 2010; Martuzzi et al, 2011; Nir et al, 2020; Palanca, Avidan, & Mashour, 2017; Palanca et al, 2015; Riehl, Palanca, & Ching, 2017; J. Zhang et al, 2018). However, the specific dynamics of brain network integration and segregation under sevoflurane anaesthesia remain unexplored.…”

Structural and functional connectivity of the ascending arousal network for prediction of outcome in patients with acute disorders of consciousness

“…In the last decade, multiple efforts have been made to characterize AAN, aiming to provide information to predict neurological outcomes in patients with severe brain injury and consequent DOCs 8 , 14 , 16 , 19 . The advancement of MRI techniques has allowed analysis of the anatomic and functional connectivity of the human brain 4 , 12 , 23 , 24 . In combination with the information acquired from DTI and BOLD, analysis of the AAN has revealed bidirectional connectivity between AAN nuclei in the brainstem and diencephalon and other multiple areas over the brain cortex 12 .…”

Functional network antagonism and consciousness

“…Or they are undetectable, like in deep anesthesia (Boveroux et al, 2010), and unresponsive brain-damaged patients (Di Perri et al, 2016;Threlkeld et al, 2018). Importantly, anticorrelations' FC recovers during the immediate post-anesthetic period (Nir et al, 2020) and after emergence from a disorder of consciousness (Di Perri et al, 2016;Threlkeld et al, 2018). Within the state of typical wakefulness, the presence of anticorrelations was shown to contributes to cognitive function (J.…”