INTRODUCTION: IN HUMAN BRAINS, THERE ARE SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS OF NEURONS PRODUCED IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF HIPPOCAMPUS. NEURON PRODUCTION IS CRITICAL FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF LEARNING AND MEMORY AND COULD BE ALTERED BY CHANGES IN HIPPOCAMPAL CELL PROLIFERATION. FOR EXAMPLE, ANESTHESIA AND SURGERY ARE ASSOCIATED WITH POSTOPERATIVE COGNITIVE CHANGES (I.E., IMPAIRED MEMORY, LEARNING) EVEN LONG AFTER THE ANESTHETIC ITSELF IS GONE. APOPTOSIS, A GRADUAL PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH, IS A MECHANISM THAT POSSIBLY LINKS ANESTHETICS TO THESE IMPAIRMENTS BY SUPPRESSING HIPPOCAMPAL NEUROGENESIS OR INDUCING NEURODEGENERATION. TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS, WE INVESTIGATED THE APOPTOTIC EFFECT OF ANESTHESIA WITH ETOMIDATE ON NEURAL CELL APOPTOSIS IN RAT HIPPOCAMPUS...