FAILURE TO REPLICATE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TRACE ANAESTHETICS ON MENTAL PERFORMANCE

Twenty-four male subjects individually undertook a selection of cognitive tasks during each of two different 2-h sessions in a climatic chamber. Twelve subjects breathed a mixture of air, nitrous oxide 1600 p.p.m. (v/v) and halothane 16 p.p.m. (v/v) during the first session, and air alone during the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of anaesthesia : BJA 1978-03, Vol.50 (3), p.229-234
Main Authors: FRANKHUIZEN, J.L., VLEK, C.A.J., BURM, A.G.L., REJGER, V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anesthetics - pharmacology
Cognition - drug effects
Halothane - pharmacology
Humans
Male
Nitrous Oxide - pharmacology
Time Factors
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Summary:Twenty-four male subjects individually undertook a selection of cognitive tasks during each of two different 2-h sessions in a climatic chamber. Twelve subjects breathed a mixture of air, nitrous oxide 1600 p.p.m. (v/v) and halothane 16 p.p.m. (v/v) during the first session, and air alone during the second session 1 week later. For the other 12 subjects the order was reversed. The tests comprised learning a list of word-number pairs, solving a set of anagram problems, recognizing words and numbers, recalling word-number pairs and performing a four-choice audiovisual reaction time task. Testing was commenced after 45 min of exposure to the atmospheric conditions. A strong learning effect both within and between sessions was observed on the audiovisual task. None of the tasks, however, reflected any adverse effect of the trace anaesthetics.
ISSN:0007-0912
1471-6771
DOI:10.1093/bja/50.3.229