PROCESSING FAMILIAR AND UNFAMILIAR AUDITORY-STIMULI DURING GENERAL-ANESTHESIA

We tested memory priming for auditory stimuli presented during general propofol-sufentanil anesthesia in 58 patients undergoing day-case art hroscopic surgery. Stimuli were presented via headphones and consisted of common facts (Group A, 29 patients), or familiar and unfamiliar fu ll names of fictitious people (Group B, 29 patients). Group A was expe cted to give more correct answers to questions about the common facts than Group B, when tested postoperatively, and Group B to attribute mo re fame to presented names than Group A (famous names test). Because t he process for learning new or unfamiliar stimuli (elaboration) in par ticular may be impaired under general anesthesia, more memory priming was expected for familiar than for unfamiliar material. No significant differences were demonstrated between the two groups in performance o n common facts or in fame attributed to the names. The amount of memor y priming, however, was positively related to one of two measures of p reoperative anxiety.