NFKB1 and Cognitive impairment: To further demonstrate the role of NF-κB-mediated pyroptosis in cognitive impairment induced by sevoflurane anesthesia, we used BAY 11-7082, a selective inhibitor of NF-κB that irreversibly inhibits IκBα phosphorylation and NF-κB activation [16, 17] and has been found to attenuate inflammation-induced memory injury in neurodegenerative diseases [40, 41].