Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

General Anesthesia: Overview

General Anesthesia: Overview

Anesthesia is a medical procedure that uses drugs for CNS suppression to enable painless surgeries and procedures. The selection of anesthetics is influenced by their pharmacokinetic properties, side effects, and patient characteristics. Various types of anesthesia include general, local, regional, spinal, and inhalational.
General anesthesia induces unconsciousness in the whole body, while the others target specific areas or sensations. It is administered to minimize adverse effects, maintain...

Stages of General Anesthesia

Stages of General Anesthesia

Various sedation levels offer significant advantages in facilitating procedural interventions for patients undergoing medical or invasive surgical procedures. These levels span from anxiolysis to general anesthesia, providing a spectrum of sedative effects to cater to specific patient needs. Anxiolysis reduces anxiety and is achieved through minimal sedation, enabling patients to remain awake and responsive while feeling more at ease during the procedure. This level can benefit minor...

Inhalational Anesthetics: Overview

Inhalational Anesthetics: Overview

Inhalation anesthetics are drugs that induce general anesthesia upon inhalation. They work by increasing the sensitivity of GABAA receptors or inhibiting NMDA receptors, leading to a decrease in central nervous system activity. The depth of anesthesia can be rapidly adjusted by changing the concentration of the inhaled gas. Some common examples of inhalational anesthetics include volatile liquids like isoflurane, desflurane, sevoflurane and gases like xenon and nitrous oxide. Isoflurane, a...

Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic devices are cognitive tools that facilitate memory retention by linking new information to familiar patterns or organizational strategies. These techniques are beneficial for remembering complex or lengthy sets of information by simplifying and structuring them in easily retrievable ways.
Acronyms
Acronyms are created by using the initial letters of a series of words to form a new word or phrase. This approach condenses complex information into a single, memorable entity. For example,...

Parenteral Anesthetics: Overview

Parenteral Anesthetics: Overview

Intravenous anesthetics are drugs administered parenterally to induce anesthesia or sedation. Propofol is a widely used agent formulated as a 1% emulsion in soybean oil, glycerol, and egg phosphatide. It induces rapid anesthesia primarily due to its rapid distribution from the bloodstream to target tissues and is metabolized in the liver. However, it can cause significant pain on injection and hypertriglyceridemia. Fospropofol, a water-based prodrug of propofol, lacks these adverse effects.

Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Spinal Anesthesia

Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Spinal Anesthesia

Spinal anesthetics are given during lower abdomen and limb surgeries to block sensory and motor neurons. They are administered in the mid to low lumbar regions, primarily acting on the cauda equina's nerve roots. The blockade level depends on the local anesthetic (LA) concentration. Usually, low LA concentrations are sufficient to block sensory fibers, while only high LA concentrations block motor fibers. Other factors like injection volume and speed, the patient's posture, and the drug...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Effect of ketamine on transcranial motor-evoked potentials during spinal surgery: a pilot study.

British journal of anaesthesia·2019

Same author

Intraoperative ketamine for prevention of postoperative delirium or pain after major surgery in older adults: an international, multicentre, double-blind, randomised clinical trial.

Lancet (London, England)·2017

Same author

Isolated Forearm Test: Replicated, Relevant, and Unexplained.

Anesthesiology·2016

Same author

The Prevention of Delirium and Complications Associated with Surgical Treatments (PODCAST) study: protocol for an international multicentre randomised controlled trial.

BMJ open·2014

Same author

The problem with amnesia.

Anesthesiology·2012

Same author

We are the ones who impede our own progress.

Anesthesiology·2012

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Recording Brain Electromagnetic Activity During the Administration of the Gaseous Anesthetic Agents Xenon and Nitrous Oxide in Healthy Volunteers

Recording Brain Electromagnetic Activity During the Administration of the Gaseous Anesthetic Agents Xenon and Nitrous Oxide in Healthy Volunteers

Published on: January 13, 2018

Memory: a guide for anaesthetists.

Robert A Veselis¹

¹Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Core Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York 10021, USA. veselisr@mskcc.org

Best Practice & Research. Clinical Anaesthesiology

|September 29, 2007

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Episodic memory, crucial for recalling the past and imagining the future, is impaired by anesthesia due to forgetting, not blocked formation. Understanding this memory system and its hippocampal link is key.

More Related Videos

Evaluation of Capnography Sampling Line Compatibility and Accuracy when Used with a Portable Capnography Monitor

Evaluation of Capnography Sampling Line Compatibility and Accuracy when Used with a Portable Capnography Monitor

Published on: September 29, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Recording Brain Electromagnetic Activity During the Administration of the Gaseous Anesthetic Agents Xenon and Nitrous Oxide in Healthy Volunteers

Recording Brain Electromagnetic Activity During the Administration of the Gaseous Anesthetic Agents Xenon and Nitrous Oxide in Healthy Volunteers

Published on: January 13, 2018

Evaluation of Capnography Sampling Line Compatibility and Accuracy when Used with a Portable Capnography Monitor

Evaluation of Capnography Sampling Line Compatibility and Accuracy when Used with a Portable Capnography Monitor

Published on: September 29, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Memory Research

Background:

Episodic memory enables detailed past recollection and future projection, distinguishing human cognition.
This memory system is highly vulnerable to anesthetic agents, preventing formation during general anesthesia.
Consciousness involves a delicate balance between recollection and its absence.

Purpose of the Study:

To elucidate the relationship between episodic memory and other memory systems.
To clarify the hippocampus's role in episodic memory function.
To identify potential mechanisms underlying amnesic drug effects on memory.

Main Methods:

Synthesis of existing knowledge on episodic memory, the hippocampus, and anesthesia.
Comparative analysis of memory systems and their neural underpinnings.
Review of studies investigating memory deficits during and after anesthesia.

Main Results:

Episodic memory loss under anesthesia results from forgetting, not impaired encoding.
The hippocampus plays a critical role in episodic memory formation and retrieval.
Anesthetic drugs disrupt the balance between conscious awareness and memory recollection.

Conclusions:

Further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms of amnesic drug effects.
Episodic memory's unique properties and hippocampal dependence are highlighted.
The study provides a framework for investigating memory disruption during anesthesia.