Abnormal postoperative neurobehavioral performance (APNP) is a common phenomenon in the early postoperative period.The disturbed homeostatic status of metabolites in the brain after anesthesia and surgery might make a significant contribution to APNP.The dynamic changes of metabolites in different brain regions after anesthesia and surgery,as well as their potential association with APNP are still not well understood.Here,we used a battery of behavioral tests to assess the effects of laparotomy under isoflurane anesthesia in aged mice,and investigated the metabolites in 12 different sub-regions of the brain at different time points using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy.The abnormal neurobehavioral performance occurred at 6 h and/or 9 h,and recovered at 24 h after anesthesia/surgery.Compared with the control group,the altered metabolite of the model group at 6 h was aspartate (Asp),and the difference was mainly displayed in the cortex;while significant changes at 9 h occurred predominantly in the cortex and hippocampus,and the corresponding metabolites were Asp and glutamate (Glu).All changes returned to baseline at 24 h.The altered metabolic changes could have occurred as a result of the acute APNP,and the metabolites Asp and Glu in the cortex and hippocampus could provide preliminary evidence for understanding the APNP process.