Background

Neurophysiologic complexity in the cortex has been shown to reflect changes in the level of consciousness in adults but remains incompletely understood in the developing brain. This study aimed to address changes in cortical complexity related to age and anesthetic state transitions. This study tested the hypotheses that cortical complexity would (1) increase with developmental age and (2) decrease during general anesthesia.

Methods

This was a single-center, prospective, cross-sectional study of healthy (American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I or II) children (n = 50) of age 8 to 16 undergoing surgery with general anesthesia at Michigan Medicine. This age range was chosen because it reflects a period of substantial brain network maturation. Whole scalp (16-channel), wireless electroencephalographic data were collected from the preoperative period through the recovery of consciousness. Cortical complexity was measured using the Lempel–Ziv algorithm and analyzed during the baseline, premedication, maintenance of general anesthesia, and clinical recovery periods. The effect of spectral power on Lempel–Ziv complexity was analyzed by comparing the original complexity value with those of surrogate time series generated through phase randomization that preserves power spectrum.

Results

Baseline spatiotemporal Lempel–Ziv complexity increased with age (yr; slope [95% CI], 0.010 [0.004, 0.016]; P < 0.001); when normalized to account for spectral power, there was no significant age effect on cortical complexity (0.001 [–0.004, 0.005]; P = 0.737). General anesthesia was associated with a significant decrease in spatiotemporal complexity (median [25th, 75th]; baseline, 0.660 [0.620, 0.690] vs. maintenance, 0.459 [0.402, 0.527]; P < 0.001), and spatiotemporal complexity exceeded baseline levels during postoperative recovery (0.704 [0.642, 0.745]; P = 0.009). When normalized, there was a similar reduction in complexity during general anesthesia (baseline, 0.913 [0.887, 0.923] vs. maintenance 0.851 [0.823, 0.877]; P < 0.001), but complexity remained significantly reduced during recovery (0.873 [0.840, 0.902], P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Cortical complexity increased with developmental age and decreased during general anesthesia. This association remained significant when controlling for spectral changes during anesthetic-induced perturbations in consciousness but not with developmental age.

Editor’s Perspective
What We Already Know about This Topic
  • Cortical complexity refers to the differentiation or diversity of neural activity patterns in the cerebral cortex
  • In adults, changes in cortical complexity have been shown to reflect changes in the level of consciousness across different classes of general anesthetics
  • Changes in cortical complexity with age and during general anesthesia in pediatric populations are incompletely understood
What This Article Tells Us That Is New
  • Using the Lempel–Ziv algorithm, a mathematical method for assessing neural signal complexity, a positive correlation of cortical complexity with age was found in awake, 8- to 16-yr-old children
  • During anesthetic state transitions in this pediatric population, cortical complexity decreased during the maintenance phase and, upon recovery of consciousness, remained reduced when compared with preanesthesia baseline levels