Molecular Diversity of Anesthetic Actions Is Evident in Electroencephalogram Effects in Humans and Animals

Anesthetic agents cause unique electroencephalogram (EEG) activity resulting from actions on their diverse molecular targets. Typically to produce balanced anesthesia in the clinical setting, several anesthetic and adjuvant agents are combined. This creates challenges for the clinical use of intraoperative EEG monitoring, because computational approaches are mostly limited to spectral analyses and different agents and combinations produce different EEG responses. Thus, testing of many combinations of agents is needed to generate accurate, protocol independent analyses. Additionally, most studies to develop new computational approaches take place in young, healthy adults and electrophysiological responses to anesthetics vary widely at the extremes of age, due to physiological brain differences. Below, we discuss the challenges associated with EEG biomarker identification for anesthetic depth based on the diversity of molecular targets. We suggest that by focusing on the generalized effects of anesthetic agents on network activity, we can create paths for improved universal analyses.

Automated summary

The use of multiple anesthetic and adjuvant agents during surgery can lead to different EEG responses, creating challenges for accurate EEG monitoring. Due to significant variations in electrophysiological responses to anesthetics at different age extremes, more testing for various drug combinations is required. Research should focus more on the generalized effects of anesthetic agents on network activity, to enhance universal analysis methods.