Fig. 5.

Comparison of performance on lag1, lag5, and lag10 words during drug administration. High performers (top lines) had a decrement in performance from lag1 through lag5 and lag10 words. Low performers (bottom lines), experiencing greater sedation, still had better performance on lag1 than lag5 or lag10 words. Interestingly, lag5 performance was no different from lag10 performance, indicating that the relation of performance with lag duration is different during sedation (there are only four subjects in the DEX low performer group). Sedation seems to interfere primarily with transfer of material from working memory, measured by lag1 performance, into long-term memory, measured by lag5 and lag10 performance. Dex = dexmedetomidine; Prop = propofol; Thp = thiopental.