General anesthesia in early infancy accelerates visual cortical development

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gabard-Durnam, Laurel J.; McCormick, Sarah A.; Underwood, Ellen; Tao, Alice; Kim, Isabelle; Coffman, Siobhan; Benster, Lindsay; Graziano, Maria; Nelson, Charles A.; Berde, Charles B.; Cornelissen, Laura; Hensch, Takao K.
• 署名单位: Northeastern University; Harvard University; Harvard Medical School; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Boston Children's Hospital; University of Tokyo; Harvard University; Harvard Medical School; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard University; Harvard Medical School; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-12184
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2504172122
• 发表日期: 2025-08-05
• 关键词: evoked potentials; cortex

摘要

How human brain function is established through protracted trajectories of development is not yet fully understood. Maturation of gamma- aminobutyric acid (GABA) circuits drives critical periods of cortical development in animal models. Whether early functional inhibition similarly impacts the pace of human brain development remains unknown. Here, in a longitudinal study of 93 infants across a range of repeated exposures to general anesthesia shortly after birth, we observed a dramatically accelerated development of visual evoked potential (VEP) waveforms (but not their latency) consistent with a conserved biological mechanism across species. Such sequelae of prolonged GABA-active anesthesia in the first half year after birth may particularly impact those at-risk of altered excitatory-inhibitory circuit balance.