IMPLICIT MEMORY TESTED IN CHILDREN DURING INHALATION ANESTHESIA

Memory for stimuli presented during inhalation anaesthesia was tested in 80 children undergoing eye surgery. Two groups were exposed, in a random double‐blind study, to repeated neutral phrases including either the colour orange or green. A postoperative colouring task was used as a test of implicit memory to detect any preference for the colour named under anaesthesia. No colour preference attributable to implicit memory could be demonstrated. One patient had a distinct preference for the named colour. No patient remembered any intra‐operative events. Copyright © 1992, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved