title: Alterations in the coupling functions between cortical and cardio-respiratory oscillations due to anaesthesia with propofol and sevoflurane.
abstract: The precise mechanisms underlying general anaesthesia pose important and still open questions. To address them, we have studied anaesthesia induced by the widely used (intravenous) propofol and (inhalational) sevoflurane anaesthetics, computing cross-frequency coupling functions between neuronal, cardiac and respiratory oscillations in order to determine their mutual interactions. The phase domain coupling function reveals the form of the function defining the mechanism of an interaction, as well as its coupling strength. Using a method based on dynamical Bayesian inference, we have thus identified and analysed the coupling functions for six relationships. By quantitative assessment of the forms and strengths of the couplings, we have revealed how these relationships are altered by anaesthesia, also showing that some of them are differently affected by propofol and sevoflurane. These findings, together with the novel coupling function analysis, offer a new direction in the assessment of general anaesthesia and neurophysiological interactions, in general.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK Faculty of Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, 50 Divizija 6, Skopje 1000, Macedonia aneta@lancaster.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2974-2836
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stankovski
authors.affiliation: Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes UMR_S 1106, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille 13005, France.
authors.forename: Spase
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petkoski
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo 0424, Norway.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raeder
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Lancaster LA1 4RP, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK.
authors.forename: Peter V E
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: McClintock
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK.
authors.forename: Aneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stefanovska
mesh_terms: D008738:Methyl Ethers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000077149:Sevoflurane
chemical_list: D008738:Methyl Ethers; D000077149:Sevoflurane
keywords: anaesthesia; brain–heart–respiration interactions; coupling function; cross-frequency coupling; propofol; sevoflurane