Cognition is an emergent property.

Cognition relies on the flexible organization of neural activity. In this discussion, we explore how many aspects of this organization can be described as emergent properties, not reducible to their constituent parts. We discuss how electrical fields in the brain can serve as a medium for propagating activity nearly instantaneously, and how population-level patterns of neural activity can organize computations through subspace coding.

Implementation of ultrasound-guided cannulation training for foundation doctors.

Peripheral intravenous cannulation (PIVC) is an essential skill for newly qualified foundation doctors. It has high failure rates, resulting in care delays, pain and infection. We explored the perceived impact of ultrasound-guided PIVC (US-PIVC) training on confidence when performing difficult-access PIVC.

Propofol anesthesia destabilizes neural dynamics across cortex.

Every day, hundreds of thousands of people undergo general anesthesia. One hypothesis is that anesthesia disrupts dynamic stability-the ability of the brain to balance excitability with the need to be stable and controllable. To test this hypothesis, we developed a method for quantifying changes in population-level dynamic stability in complex systems: delayed linear analysis for stability estimation (DeLASE).

Convergent effects of different anesthetics on changes in phase alignment of cortical oscillations.

Many anesthetics cause loss of responsiveness despite having diverse underlying molecular and circuit actions. To explore the convergent effects of these drugs, we examined how anesthetic doses of ketamine and dexmedetomidine affected oscillations in the prefrontal cortex of nonhuman primates. Both anesthetics caused increases in phase locking in the ventrolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, within and across hemispheres.