Gabriele
Lohmann1, Wolfgang Heinke2, Burkhard Pleger1,
Joeran Lepsien1, Stefan Zysset3, Robert Turner1
1Max Planck Institute for Human
Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; 2Dept. of
Anesthesiology and Intensive Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig,
Germany; 3NordicNeuroLab, Norway
Propofol
is an anesthestic agent widely used in clinical practice which is known to
affect episodic memory. The exact mechanism causing this effect is still
unclear. Here we investigated whether propofol has a region-specific effect
on functional connectivity in fMRI data. Subjects were scanned under the
influence of propofol or a placebo. Functional connectivity was assessed
using an algorithm new to fMRI data analysis called 'eigenvector centrality'.
Our results suggest that the well known impairment of episodic memory after
propofol infusion is related to an impaired function of cerebellar regions
known to be involved in memory encoding.