How anesthetics and pain medicines change the human brain
Neuroimaging to identify the neural correlates of anesthetic and analgesic action in humans
Adults will have brain scans and monitoring while given common anesthetics and pain medicines to learn how these drugs block pain and memory during painful moments.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11170429 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would come to the University of Pittsburgh for sessions in a high-strength MRI scanner. During each visit you'll receive steady doses of one of several commonly used anesthetics while doing simple cognitive tasks and receiving brief, carefully controlled painful stimuli. While this happens we will record your brain activity with high-field fMRI along with EEG, skin conductance, and heart rate to capture how the drugs change brain signals and behavior. The team will compare responses across multiple drug classes to find where and how anesthetics and analgesics block memory formation, conditioned fear responses, and pain perception.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Healthy adults aged 21 or older who can safely undergo MRI and brief anesthetic exposure and who are willing to receive controlled short pain stimuli would be ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People who are under 21, pregnant, have implanted metal devices, unstable medical conditions, or who need treatment for ongoing chronic pain are unlikely to be eligible or directly benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Results could help doctors make anesthesia and pain control safer and better targeted to prevent pain and traumatic memories.
How similar studies have performed: Prior neuroimaging and anesthesia research has provided important clues, but combining high-field fMRI, EEG, autonomic measures, and multiple drug classes in the same protocol is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
Pittsburgh, United States
- University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Vogt, Keith Michael — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Vogt, Keith Michael
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.