Resting state functional connectivity in early post-anesthesia recovery is characterized by globally reduced anticorrelations

Though a growing body of literature is addressing the possible longer-term cognitive effects of anesthetics, to date no study has delineated the normal trajectory of neural recovery due to anesthesia alone in older adults. We obtained resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans on 62 healthy human volunteers between ages forty and eighty before, during, and after sevoflurane (general) anesthesia, in the absence of surgery, as part of a larger study on cognitive function post-anesthesia. Resting state networks expression decreased consistently one hour after emergence from anesthesia. This corresponded to a global reduction in anticorrelated functional connectivity post-anesthesia, seen across individual regions-of-interest. Positively correlated functional connectivity remained constant across peri-anesthetic states. All measures returned to baseline 1 day later, with individual regions-of-interest essentially returning to their pre-anesthesia connectivity levels. These results define normal peri-anesthetic changes in resting state connectivity in healthy older adults.