General anaesthetics and the developing brain: an overview

Various experimental studies in animals have shown that general anaesthetics are potentially toxic to the developing brain. By inducing apoptosis or interfering with neurogenesis, anaesthetic exposure during a critical period of neuronal development can have significant impact on neurocognitive function later in life. It remains controversial whether these experimental results can be transferred to human beings and this is under intensive scientific evaluation. To gain more insight into possible neurotoxic effects on the human brain of infants and small children, a number of retrospective studies have been performed. At present, there is no clear evidence that exposure to anaesthesia up to …