General anesthesia plays a significant role in modern medicine. However, the precise mechanism of general anesthesia remains unclear, posing a key scientific challenge in anesthesiology. Advances in neuroscience techniques have enabled targeted manipulation of specific neural circuits and the capture of brain-wide neural activity at high resolution. These advances hold promise for elucidating the intricate mechanisms of action of general anesthetics. This review aims to summarize our current understanding of the role of cortical and subcortical nuclei in modulating general anesthesia, providing new evidence of cortico-cortical and thalamocortical networks in relation to anesthesia and consciousness. These insights contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the neural network mechanisms underlying general anesthesia.
Humans ; Anesthesia, General ; Animals ; Nerve Net/physiology* ; Cerebral Cortex/drug effects* ; Neural Pathways/drug effects* ; Thalamus/drug effects* ; Consciousness/drug effects*

Objective To investigate the long-term effects of propofol postconditioning on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats.Methods One hundred and forty-four healthy male SD rats,aged 7-8 weeks,weighing 250-280 g,were equally and randomly divided into 4 groups:sham operation group (group S),I/R group,propofol postconditioning group (group P) and intralipid group (group I).The animals were anesthetized with intraperitoneal 10％ chloral hydrate 300 mg/kg.Focal cerebral ischemia was induced by occlusion of middle cerebral artery for 60 min using a nylon thread with a rounded tip which was inserted into internal carotid artery in groups I/R,P and I.Two hour infusion of propofol was started at 20 mg· kg- 1· h- 1 immediately after the onset of reperfusion in group P,while the equal volume of normal saline was given instead in S and I/R groups,and 10％ intralipid was given instead in group I.Five rats in each group were chosen on day 1,14 and 28 after operation for assessment of neurological behavior and detection of cerebral infarct volume.Six rats in each group were chosen to perform Morris water maze test at day 9 and 23 after operation for 6 consecutive days.Five rats in each group were sacrificed on day 1,14 and 28 after operation and the hippocampal tissues were isolated for determination of the expression of GluR1-containing AMPA (GluR1-AMPA) receptor and GluR1-AMPA receptor in cell membrane.The ratio of GluR1-AMPA receptor in cell membrane/GluR1-AMPA receptor was calculated.Results Compared with group S,neurological behavior scores and the number of animals' swimming across the platform were significantly decreased,cerebral infarct volume was significantly enlarged,escape latency was significantly prolonged,and ratio of GluR1-AMPA receptor in cell membrane/GluR1-AMPA receptor was significantly increased ( P ＜ 0.05),while no significant change in the expression of GluR1-AMPA receptor was found in I/R group ( P ＞0.05).Propofol postconditioning inhibited cerebral I/R-induced changes mentioned above ( P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The brain protection against focal I/R injury by propofol postconditioning can last for 28 days after operation and the inhibition of trafficking of GluR1-AMPA receptor from cytoplasm to cell membrane may contribute to this long-term brain protection.

Objective To compare the short-term efficacy and adverse effects of docetaxe or oxaliplatin combined with capecitabine in the treatment of late-staged gastric cancer in aged patients. Methods Eighty-two aged patients with late-staged gastric cancer were randomly divided into two groups,of which 38 patients were treated group) ,and 44 patients were treated with oxaliplatin (100 mg/m2 ivgtt on 1st day) and eapecitabine (2000 mg/1 cycle). Results There is no failure of follow-up. In the docetaxe group,the effective rate was 52.63% (20/38) and 54.55 % (24/44) for the docetaxe and oxaliplatin group,respectively (P>0.05). The median progression-free survival(PFS) in the docetaxe group (6.1 months) was similar to that in the oxaliplatin group (6.3 months) (P>0.05). Gastrointestinal response,myelosuppression and neurotoxicity (Ⅰ or Ⅱ level) were the most common ad-verse effects observed in both groups (P>0.05). No chemotherapy-related death was observed. Conclusions The short-term efficacy of decetaxe or oxaliplatin combined with capecitabine in the treatment of late-staged gastric cancer in aged patients is similar,and the adverse effects are all within tolerance limits.