EIF2AK3 and Mental deterioration: Sevoflurane activates the cortical PERK-eIF2α-ATF4-CHOP signaling pathway, inducing apoptosis in neonatal mouse cortical neurons while causing neuronal hyperexcitability, synaptic loss, and cognitive decline in the frontal cortex of aged mice, with PERK inhibitors effectively mitigating these effects (Chen K. et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2017).