# Anesthestic modulation of human memory during acute pain

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2021 · $188,974

## Abstract

Project Summary (abstract):
Despite routine use of sedative-hypnotic and analgesic agents (anesthetics) to prevent or ease suffering during
aversive conditions, the effects of these agents on behavior and the neural systems that form memories, respond
to threat, and process pain are poorly understood. This project will determine the memory-modulating effects of
propofol, dexmedetomidine, and fentanyl in the context of periodic pain stimulation. It is a randomized, placebo-
controlled, single-blind, parallel arm fMRI study in healthy adults (under age 40). Subjects will perform a memory
encoding task while receiving periodic acute pain stimulation. Explicit and implicit memory will be quantified using
response time and physiologic responses, including heart rate and electrodermal activity. Neuroimaging will
localize brain activity and connectivity. Psychometric data relevant to pain and anxiety will be used to account
for inter-individual differences. The central hypothesis is that, when forming memory during concomitant painful
stimulation, three anesthetic agents, with different receptor pharmacology, will have distinct behavioral and
physiologic response patterns, which are mediated by different activity within and interactions between the neural
systems responsible for memory encoding, threat response, and pain processing. There are three scientific
research goals of this patient-oriented career development proposal. The first is to determine how behavioral
and physiologic measures of explicit and implicit memory are modulated by pain and the individual effects of the
three anesthetics under investigation. The second aim is to determine the brain structures differentially engaged
in memory encoding under pain and drug conditions, using task-related functional MRI and functional
connectivity analyses. The third aim is to determine brain changes correlated to subject psychometric measures
of anxiety, stress, sleep, and pain through multivariate psychophysiological interaction analysis. The scientific
framework for this project has a direct application in better understanding the impact of memories formed during
sedation with anesthetics while experiencing noxious stimuli. Additionally, further extension of this pharmacologic
modulation technique to other cognitive neuroscience paradigms could provide a multidisciplinary framework for
basic studies of memory formation, the genesis of dysregulated memories, and the necessary conditions for
anesthetic-induced amnesia. In addition to the hands-on research experience of running a trial, achieved through
the research aims, this project will advance the applicant into an independent physician scientist in
anesthesiology through specific career-development activities. This will be accomplished through a combination
of mentoring and evaluation meetings, national scientific/professional meetings, formal didactics, and local
seminars/presentations. As part of professional development, coursework in multiva...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10242824
- **Project number:** 5K23GM132755-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Keith Michael Vogt
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $188,974
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-15 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10242824

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10242824, Anesthestic modulation of human memory during acute pain (5K23GM132755-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10242824. Licensed CC0.

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