High frequency waveforms in anaesthesia and pain medicine

Overview

Our nervous system is an immensely complex network of electrically excitable cells - in excess of 1011 neurones with perhaps 1015 synaptic connections that communicate via electrochemical signalling, coordinated by synchronized frequencies that may bind specially distant neuronal groups into a unified functional system. Contemporary models suggest that such synchronized neural activity underlies the mechanisms of sensory perception, pain and conscious experience.

Cognitive neuroscience and consciousness research indicate that the central nervous system is not reducible or explicable as a simple digital system and our understanding of its signal processing and its response to external insults or modulation is not yet precisely understood.
                                                           
Dr Hudspith will explore how electrical activity can be exploited and modified for clinical use and provide some exciting insights into how our developing understanding of integrated neural activity may improve anaesthesia and pain medicine.