Effect of alfaxalone anesthesia on brain functional connectivity in rhesus monkeys

Alfaxalone is suggested to be an optimal anesthetic to examine brain injuries in experimental animals. However, little is known about its impact on neural activity in anesthetized subjects. In the present study, adult rhesus monkeys were used to examine its impact on functional connectivity. The results demonstrate that alfaxalone induces significantly reduced functional connectivity in the dominant default-mode network (DMN), inter-hemisphere connectivity in primary somatosensory cortex and caudate compared to isoflurane. The findings reveal that alfaxalone suppress neural activity more dramatically than light isoflurane anesthesia in monkeys, suggesting it is ideal for investigating anatomical and microstructural changes in animal models but not good for evaluating neuronal activity with fMRI.