Anesthesiology
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Cholinergic drugs are known to modulate general anesthesia, but anesthesia responses in acetylcholine-deficient mice have not been studied. It was hypothesized that mice with genetic deficiency of forebrain acetylcholine show increased anesthetic sensitivity to isoflurane and ketamine and decreased gamma-frequency brain activity. ⋯ These findings suggest that forebrain cholinergic neurons modulate behavioral sensitivity and hippocampal gamma activity during isoflurane and ketamine anesthesia.