Anesthesiology
February 6, 2020
Andria Pelentritou, Levin Kuhlmann, John Cormack et al.
15 citations
Xenon and nitrous oxide produce different patterns of brain oscillatory power changes, depending on the gas and the recording method. Xenon increased low-frequency delta and theta power only at loss of responsiveness (delta: 208.3%, theta: 107.4% in MEG; delta: 260.3%, theta: 116.3% in EEG). Nitrous oxide increased high-frequency gamma power (low gamma: 46.3%, high gamma: 45.7% in MEG) and reduced frontal alpha power at 0.75 MACawake in MEG (44.4% reduction) and at 0.50 MACawake in EEG (44.0% reduction). The findings show no clear universal features of action for these two gaseous anesthetics, and differences between MEG and EEG must be considered for accurate brain state monitoring during anesthesia.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
March 9, 2019
Andria Pelentritou, Levin Kuhlmann, John Cormack et al.
1 citation
preprint
Equivalent stepwise subanesthetic doses of the NMDA-antagonists nitrous oxide (N2O) and xenon (Xe) produce distinct, frequency-dependent changes in cortical oscillatory source power, measured with simultaneous magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). At the highest Xe concentration (42%, 1.30 MAC-awake), delta and theta band power significantly increased in both MEG and EEG. N2O administration reduced frontal alpha power more strongly than equivalent Xe doses. N2O alone increased MEG (but not EEG) high-frequency gamma power, with occipital low gamma and widespread high gamma rises. These results demonstrate divergent MEG and EEG signatures of dissociative anesthesia.
Journal of neural engineering
April 11, 2025
Rick Evertz, Andria Pelentritou, John Cormack et al.
Resting EEG activity typically resembles a filtered random process, and alpha band (8-13 Hz) oscillations can be modeled as independent, stochastically driven relaxation oscillators. This study tested whether changes in alpha band power and spectral slope during anesthesia with xenon and nitrous oxide—both NMDA receptor antagonists—could be explained by alterations in the distribution of alpha band damping rates. In participants receiving step-level increases of xenon (n=24) or nitrous oxide (n=20), both agents produced dose-dependent reductions in alpha power and spectral slope (15-40 Hz), accounted for by increased mean alpha band damping.