MEMORY DURING GENERAL-ANESTHESIA - PRACTICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Evidence coming from several studies into memory and awareness during general anesthesia suggests that in surgical patients who seem to be a dequately anesthetized (i.e., unaware of what happens in the operating theater), some form of cognitive functioning is preserved. This findi ng has important implications both for clinical practice and for memor y research. In order to give the methodological background of the pres ent situation in this field of research, this article deals, on the ba sis of recent experiments, with important methodological aspects of st udies into perception and memory during general anesthesia. (C) 1996 A cademic Press.