title: Effect of general anesthesia in infancy on long-term recognition memory in humans and rats.
abstract: Anesthesia in infancy impairs performance in recognition memory tasks in mammalian animals, but it is unknown if this occurs in humans. Successful recognition can be based on stimulus familiarity or recollection of event details. Several brain structures involved in recollection are affected by anesthesia-induced neurodegeneration in animals. Therefore, we hypothesized that anesthesia in infancy impairs recollection later in life in humans and rats. Twenty eight children ages 6-11 who had undergone a procedure requiring general anesthesia before age 1 were compared with 28 age- and gender-matched children who had not undergone anesthesia. Recollection and familiarity were assessed in an object recognition memory test using receiver operator characteristic analysis. In addition, IQ and Child Behavior Checklist scores were assessed. In parallel, thirty three 7-day-old rats were randomized to receive anesthesia or sham anesthesia. Over 10 months, recollection and familiarity were assessed using an odor recognition test. We found that anesthetized children had significantly lower recollection scores and were impaired at recollecting associative information compared with controls. Familiarity, IQ, and Child Behavior Checklist scores were not different between groups. In rats, anesthetized subjects had significantly lower recollection scores than controls while familiarity was unaffected. Rats that had undergone tissue injury during anesthesia had similar recollection indices as rats that had been anesthetized without tissue injury. These findings suggest that general anesthesia in infancy impairs recollection later in life in humans and rats. In rats, this effect is independent of underlying disease or tissue injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stratmann
authors.affiliation: Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Sall
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Bradley H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Rehan S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Alvi
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Allison M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Tatiana M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ramage
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Flora L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Terri G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Lempert
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kasey H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Siu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sophie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Elphick
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Caitlin I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Schnair
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Vu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Huizhen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zai
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Anthony
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Barbour
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ben-Tzur
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Natalie E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Kazarian
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Joyce Y Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jay R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Gurbir S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Behniwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Cathy R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Lammers
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Zoel
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Quinones
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Anuj
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cedars
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Yonelinas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghetti
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D057567:Memory, Long-Term / Q000187:drug effects*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D008738:Methyl Ethers / Q000009:adverse effects; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000187:drug effects; D012372:ROC Curve; D011897:Random Allocation; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects*; D000077149:Sevoflurane
chemical_list: D008738:Methyl Ethers; D000077149:Sevoflurane