Modeling the Effects of Propofol on Brain Activity: Insights from Computational EEG Studies

The effects of anesthetic agents like propofol on brain activity provide critical insights into how consciousness is altered during anesthesia. This article presents a computational approach to modeling the impact of propofol on the brain’s electrical activity using the COALIA model, a large-scale neural mass model of human EEG designed for consciousness research. Propofol enhances GABA_A-mediated synaptic inhibition, leading to characteristic EEG signatures such as alpha oscillations (8-12 Hz) and slow-wave oscillations (0.1-1.5 Hz). We model these effects by modulating the parameters of postsynaptic potentials and synaptic strength, simulating the action of propofol at both the molecular and network levels. COALIA’s detailed representation of thalamo-cortical and cortico-cortical networks provides realistic simulations of brain dynamics under anesthesia, closely replicating experimental EEG data. Our findings highlight the importance of network-level interactions in producing the distinctive EEG changes seen during propofol-induced unconsciousness. This research paves the way for future applications in personalized anesthesia monitoring and consciousness assessment through EEG modeling.