Isoflurane is an inhalational anesthetic that is widely used in medical procedures or biomedical research. The duration of anesthesia administration varies from minutes to hours. It is known that isoflurane has dose-dependent effects on brain functionality and physiology, and long-duration anesthesia administration could cause neurocognitive decline in animals and humans. However, the duration effect of isoflurane on the brain physiology and functionality still remains poorly understood. In the present study, cerebral blood flow (CBF) and functional connectivity of adult rhesus monkeys (maintained with 1% isoflurane for 4 h) were examined by using magnetic resonance imaging. The results demonstrate that long-duration isoflurane exposure could result in CBF reduction in most brain areas and functional connectivity decrease in the dominant default-mode network. This study reveals the anesthetic duration effects in the central nervous system of anesthetized subjects and suggests that such duration effects should be considered in examining the brain function of anesthetized animals or humans with contemporary neuroimaging approaches.
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