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Updated: May 13, 2026

Assessing Changes in Volatile General Anesthetic Sensitivity of Mice after Local or Systemic Pharmacological Intervention
Published on: October 16, 2013
Sleep and Anesthesia Interactions: A Pharmacological Appraisal
1Department of Neurology, Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 ; Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology, Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Abstract:
Anesthetics have been used in clinical practice for over a hundred years, yet their mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. One tempting hypothesis to explain their hypnotic properties posits that anesthetics exert a component of their effects by "hijacking" the endogenous arousal circuitry of the brain. Modulation of activity within sleep- and wake-related neuroanatomic systems could thus explain some of the varied effects produced by anesthetics. There has been a recent explosion of research into the neuroanatomic substrates affected by various anesthetics. In this review, we will highlight the relevant sleep architecture and systems and focus on studies over the past few years that implicate these sleep-related structures as targets of anesthetics. These studies highlight a promising area of investigation regarding the mechanisms of action of anesthetics and provide an important model for future study.
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