Isoflurane anesthesia disrupts the cortical metabolome.

Identifying similarities and differences in the brain metabolome during different states of consciousness has broad relevance for neuroscience and state-dependent autonomic function. This study focused on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) as a brain region known to modulate states of consciousness. Anesthesia was used as a tool to eliminate wakefulness.

Neurotransmitter networks in mouse prefrontal cortex are reconfigured by isoflurane anesthesia.

This study quantified eight small-molecule neurotransmitters collected simultaneously from prefrontal cortex of C57BL/6J mice ( = 23) during wakefulness and during isoflurane anesthesia (1.3%). Using isoflurane anesthesia as an independent variable enabled evaluation of the hypothesis that isoflurane anesthesia differentially alters concentrations of multiple neurotransmitters and their interactions.