Administration of ketamine during general anesthesia preserved high-frequency EEG changes but lacked low-frequency modulation, suggesting neurophysiologic components of ketamine can be selectively altered.
Question Are the neurophysiologic signatures of ketamine altered by removal of conscious awareness under general anesthesia?
Findings This cohort study was a secondary analysis of participant-level data from 3 prospective studies in which subanesthetic ketamine was administered with or without general anesthesia. Unconsciousness was associated with preserved βγ power modulation but loss of θ augmentation.
Meaning These findings suggest that unconsciousness from general anesthesia was associated with separation of the neurophysiologic components of ketamine effects, providing a method to explore the contributions of distinct aspects of ketamine physiology to therapeutic effects.









