Effects of Sedative Doses of Propofol, Dexmedetomidine, and Fentanyl on Memory and Pain in Healthy Young Adults: A Randomized, Controlled, Single-blind Crossover Study Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 7 Tesla
Authors' conclusion
These findings add important details to the complex framework of how these distinct anesthetics affect different aspects of cognition through diverse neuroanatomic targets in the brain.
Study context
- Population
- Healthy volunteers aged 18 to 40 yr; word-encoding task with painful shocks during 7 T fMRIcrossover
- Participants
- 92 volunteers
- Comparison
- Sedative-dose propofol, dexmedetomidine or fentanyl vs no drug
- Primary endpoint
- Next-day memory performance (d', normalized measure of correct identifications vs false positives)
- Follow-up
- Next day
Methodological detailssingle-blind, 1:1:1, placebo-controlled, crossover
- Single-blind
- 1:1:1
- Placebo-controlled
- Crossover
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
Recollection (d')
No drug
1.16
mean · 95% CI 0.97–1.34
Propofol
0.51
mean · 95% CI 0.182–0.842
Dexmedetomidine
1.04
mean · 95% CI 0.73–1.35
Fentanyl
0.98
mean · 95% CI 0.68–1.28
Propofol vs No drug: P = 0.006 · Dexmedetomidine vs No drug: P = 0.99 · Fentanyl vs No drug: P = 0.99
Further findings
Memory-encoding brain activation (fMRI)
- Propofol decreased hippocampus and amygdala activation
- Dexmedetomidine decreased hippocampus activation
- Fentanyl decreased hippocampus and amygdala activation
Pain-related brain activation and pain ratings
- Propofol reduced activation in insula, anterior cingulate, hippocampus and amygdala
- Dexmedetomidine did not change pain ratings or activation in pain-processing areas
- Fentanyl decreased activation in primary somatosensory cortex and insula, increased in anterior cingulate, hippocampus and amygdala
Original publication
Effects of Sedative Doses of Propofol, Dexmedetomidine, and Fentanyl on Memory and Pain in Healthy Young Adults: A Randomized, Controlled, Single-blind Crossover Study Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 7 Tesla. Anesthesiology. Published 9 April 2025. doi:10.
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