Table 3.

Functional connectivity (FC) disruptions reflect principal mechanisms of anesthesia.

The table summarizes key effects on FC for the three major anesthetic classes: disruption of whole brain FC by GABA_A receptor agonists (GABA_R+, red), bottom-up disruption by α2 adrenoreceptor agonists (α2_R+, green), and disruption of cortical FC by NMDA receptor antagonists (NMDA_R-, blue). Loss of consciousness (LOC) is most likely mediated by suppression of frontal-to-parietal information transfer in the cortex and can be achieved by all three anesthetic classes either directly via disruption of cortico-cortical FC or indirectly via bottom-up pathways. Principal mechanisms of anesthesia are described in “Brain States Under Anesthesia” section and their reflection in FC patterns is discussed in “Functional Connectivity and Murine Resting-State fMRI” section. References are shortened to first author (and year) to save space and allow for comprehensive referencing.