Gilles Plourde, MD
In addition to providing clinical anesthetic care, I conduct research to understand how general anesthetics cause unconsciousness. Although general anesthetics have been in use for more than 150 years, their mechanisms of action are not well understood. My approach relies on either electrophysiological (EEG or sensory-evoked potentials) in both human subjects and animals, or functional brain imaging (PET or fMRI) studies in human subjects. A key element of this research is the use of drug administration methods that allow precise control of the concentration of the drug in the blood.
Plourde G, Arsenau F Attenuation of High-Frequency (30-200 Hz) Thalamocortical EEG Rhythms as Correlate of Anaesthetic Action: Evidence from Dexmedetomidine , Br J Anaesth, 119:1150–60, 2017 doi: 10.1093/bja/aex329
Reed SJ, Plourde G Attenuation of high-frequency (50-200 Hz) thalamocortical EEG rhythms by propofol in rats is more pronounced to the thalamus than for the cortex, 2015, PLoS ONE 10(4): e0123287. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123287
Verdonck, O, Reed SJ, Hall J, Gotman J, Plourde G The sensory thalamus and cerebral motor cortex are affected concurrently during induction of anesthesia with propofol - a case series with intracranial EEG recordings. Can J Anesth. 61:254-62, 2014. doi: 10.1007/s12630-013-0100-y. Epub 2014 Jan 22
Reed SJ, Plourde G, Tobin S and Chapman, CA Partial antagonism of proprofol anesthesia by physostigmine in rats is associated with potentiation of fast (80-200 Hz) oscillations in the thalamus, Br J Anaesthesia, 110:646–53, 2013 doi:10.1093/bja/aes432
Xie G, Deschamps A, Backman SB, Fiset P, Chartrand D, Dagher A, Plourde G. Critical involvement of the thalamus and precuneus during restoration of consciousness with physostigmine in humans during propofol anaesthesia: a positron emission tomography study, Br J Anaesthesia, 106:548-57, 2011
