Members of the Anesthesiology Neuroscience Research team presented posters at IARS 2026, highlighting new work on how commonly used anesthetics affect the brain.
Alex Burles presented on resting brain connectivity changes during sevoflurane sedation in healthy volunteers, reporting alterations in connectivity within networks involved in memory, consciousness, and pain. The poster—titled “Resting brain connectivity changes during sedation with sevoflurane: a functional MRI study in healthy volunteers”—was authored by Alex Burlew, MD, Courtney N. Kozdron, Marcus A. Simmons, MD, Alex G. Gerges Geha, Mia R. Gomolinski, James W. Ibinson, MD, PhD, and Keith M. Vogt, MD, PhD.
A second poster was presented by Tylor Duffy, and focused on cognitive and sensory outcomes under sedative doses of both sevoflurane and nitrous oxide. In the reported findings, both agents were found to similarly reduce pain and impair memory, with distinct effects on task-related fMRI activation across the brain. This poster—“Effects of sevoflurane and nitrous oxide on pain and memory in healthy adults”—was authored by Taylor Duffy, Derrick Liu, Courtney Kozdron, Mia Gomolinski, Alex Geha, Marcus Simmons, MD, James Ibinson, MD, PhD, and Keith Vogt, MD, PhD.