Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 8 pp 7262—7281

Figure 1. The effects of propofol anesthesia with or without surgery on learning and memory behaviors in aged rats. (A) Propofol alone for 4 h but not 2 h increased the escape latency in the MWM test. (B) Propofol alone did not alter the swimming speed. (C) Propofol alone for 4 h but not 2 h reduced the percentage of time spent in the target quadrant. (D) Propofol alone for 4 h but not 2 h reduced the number of platform crossings. (E, F) Propofol alone for 4 h reduced the freezing time in the context test of the FCT both 2 and 7 days after anesthesia. (G, H) Propofol alone for 4 h reduced the freezing time in the tone test of the FCT both 2 and 7 days after anesthesia. (I–L) Propofol anesthesia (2 h) and surgery increased the escape latency (I), had no effect on the swimming speed (J), reduced the target quadrant dwelling time (K) and reduced the number of platform crossings (L) in the MWM test. (M–P) Propofol anesthesia (2 h) and surgery reduced the freezing time in the context (M, N) and tone (O, P) tests of the FCT 2 and 7 days after anesthesia. *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01 versus control rats. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 10 per group). CON: the control group, PRO2: the 2-h propofol group, PRO4: the 4-h propofol group, PRO2S: the 2-h propofol anesthesia + surgery group.