Time of the day, anesthesia and cognition: a neuro-protective approach

Abstract

Anesthesiologists have always been concerned about the post anesthetic effects on brain   and the possibility of neurocognitive dysfunction. Neurocognitive effects have been observed in all ages especially with long duration anesthetics. Experimental studies on animals have also suggested detrimental effects on brain and cognitive functions are also altered negatively. This might be due to the fact that the proteins responsible for cognitive processes are also altered by the anesthetics. Studies have also shown that proteins responsible for cognitive functions show circadian variations, i.e. their levels are different during different time points of the day. It is suggested that if the anesthetics are given while the proteins (which are responsible for cognitive function) are at peak,    effect of anesthetics might be less. For this reason, there is a need to study the effect of anesthetics with/without surgery at different time points of the day to determine any variation of cognitive effects at different day times.
Citation: Rafiq M. Time of the day, anesthesia and cognition: a neuro-protective approach. Anaesth Pain & Intensive Care 2018;22(4):­­417-418
Received – 11 October 2018; Reviewed – 13 October 2018; Accepted – 13 October 2018