Harvard Medical School, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Boston, MA, USA.
Neuroscientist. 2011 Feb;17(1):94-106. doi: 10.1177/1073858410374126.
Functional connectivity has been defined as "the temporal correlation of a neurophysiological index measured in different brain areas." Since its definition, functional connectivity analysis has been used to describe temporal correlations across multiple spatial scales in PET imaging, single-unit and local field potential recordings, electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), optical imaging, and fMRI. These findings have been used to identify coactivating brain regions as functional networks. In some instances, as in the case of the default mode network (DMN), functional connectivity has been used to describe "modes" of brain function. The opportunity to probe the anesthetized state using functional connectivity analysis has given rise to a diverse literature over the past two decades. The examination of functional connectivity in the anesthetized state is of relevance to both anesthesiologists and neuroscientists, as it has the potential to elucidate still unclear mechanisms of anesthesia while offering insight into intrinsic functional activity in the brain. Complications have arisen, however, in the form of a lack of standardization of anesthetics, dosages, depths of anesthesia, and methods of functional connectivity analysis across studies. The present work attempts to examine, elucidate, and integrate the insight that functional connectivity analysis of the anesthetized state has generated thus far.
功能连接被定义为“在不同脑区测量的神经生理指标的时间相关性”。自其定义以来，功能连接分析已被用于描述在正电子发射断层扫描成像、单细胞和局部场电位记录、脑电图（EEG）和脑磁图（MEG）、光学成像和 fMRI 等多个空间尺度上的时间相关性。这些发现被用于识别共同激活的脑区作为功能网络。在某些情况下，如默认模式网络 (DMN)，功能连接被用于描述大脑功能的“模式”。在过去的二十年中，使用功能连接分析来探测麻醉状态的机会产生了大量的文献。在麻醉状态下检查功能连接对于麻醉师和神经科学家都很重要，因为它有可能阐明麻醉的机制仍不清楚，同时提供对大脑内在功能活动的洞察。然而，在研究中麻醉剂、剂量、麻醉深度和功能连接分析方法的标准化方面出现了一些问题。目前的工作试图检查、阐明和整合迄今为止功能连接分析对麻醉状态的见解。
