BrainMap: Patrick Purdon, PhD; The Electroencephalogram During General Anesthesia: Insights into Unconsciousness, Aging, and Development

Patrick L. Purdon, PhD

Instructor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School

Assistant in Bioengineering, Massachusetts General Hospital

Talk title: The Electroencephalogram During General Anesthesia:  Insights into Unconsciousness, Aging, and Development

Abstract: The mechanisms by which anesthetic drugs induce states of unconsciousness have been regarded as a mystery for nearly 170 years.  In this Brain Map seminar, I will discuss recent progress in using the electroencephalogram to study anesthesia-induced states of unconsciousness.  I will present evidence illustrating how anesthetic drugs produce different states of unconsciousness by inducing profound neurophysiologic oscillations that disrupt brain function. These oscillations are structured in a way that relates directly to the underlying molecular- and circuit-level neuropharmacology of anesthetic drugs, such that each anesthetic drug class has a unique neurophysiological “EEG signature.”  These EEG signatures show age-related changes in children and the elderly that likely reflect underlying brain development and brain aging.  Beyond anesthesiology, this work has important implications for personalized medicine, for the neuroscience of aging and development, and for the sleep medicine.