〔Abstract〕 Objective To examine the effect of sevoflurane exposure at the neonatal period on memory and synaptic plasticity at puberty in mice. Methods 30 neonatal mice(6～7 days old) were randomly divided into control group and sevoflurane exposure group, 15 mice in each group. The neonatal mice in the control group were not exposed to sevoflurane. The neonatal mice in the sevoflurane exposure group were anesthetized with 3.5% sevoflurane for 30 min, then with 3% sevoflurane for 30 min, and finally with 2.5% sevoflurane for 30 min. At 2-month-old, spatial memory, fear memory and social interaction memory were evaluated by morris water maze test, contextual fear and cue fear test and triple chambered social behavioral assay, respectively. The levels of Caspase-3 and BDNF in hippocampus were detected by immunohistochemical staining. The frequency and amplitude of mEPSC in GABA-ergic neurons were evaluated by whole cell patch clamp. Results Behavioral experiments show that compared with control group, mice in sevoflurane exposure group showed impairment in spatial memory, fear memory and social interaction memory at 2-month-old(allP<0.001). Immunohistochemistry showed that compared with the control group, the number of BDNF positive cells significantly reduced(P<0.001) while the number of Caspase-3 positive cells significantly increased(P<0.001) in hippocampus of mice in sevoflurane exposure group at 2-month-old. Whole cell patch clamp showed that compared with the control group, the frequency and amplitude of mEPSC significantly reduced(allP<0.01) in GABA-ergic neurons of mice in sevoflurane exposure group at 2-month-old. Conclusion Sevoflurane exposure at the neonatal period in mice can lead to neurodegeneration, memory impairment and synaptic plasticity decrease at puberty.