Anesthesia, Sedation and Memory – Is Everything So Simple?

Abstract

The study of neural plasticity and related memory functions is one of the fundamental fields in anesthesiology. Understanding this issue is very important both for the physician - the anesthesiologist-resuscitator, and for the patient. This review of the literature describes structures and processes of the central nervous system which in a sense are the target for the amnestic action of sedation and anesthesia medications. The possibilities of implicit and explicit memory formation depending on different levels of sedation and anesthesia are considered. Special attention is paid to the mechanism of action of GABAergic drugs on the processes of memory consolidation and reconsolidation.

Keywords

• anesthesia
• hippocampus
• amygdala
• gabaergic receptors
• explicit memory
• implicit memory
• memory consolidation
• memory reconsolidation