The mission of the Division of Perioperative Neuroscience is to advance knowledge of perioperative neuroscience across the translational spectrum. From this knowledge gained, our aim is to improve neurologic care for surgical patients and foster perioperative neuroscience education.
The Division of Perioperative Neuroscience, and Department of Anesthesiology more broadly, have played key roles in leading and collaborating on large observational and interventional studies related to the nervous system in the perioperative period. We have conducted major studies on perioperative stroke, intraoperative awareness with explicit recall as well as psychological consequences of surgery and anesthesia; postoperative delirium, ketamine and altered brain states, postoperative coma, and perioperative nerve surgery. We have also participated in multicenter studies involving postoperative visual loss, and we are presently exploring the role of cognitive prehabilitation in older surgical patients.
Currently, the Division of Perioperative Neuroscience is conducting a trial to determine whether caffeine improves pain and cognitive function after surgery. Our group is also conducting an observational study to determine whether specific brainwave patterns, detected using perioperative electroencephalography, correlate with cognitive and functional trajectory after surgery. These lines of investigation will advance understanding – and possibly improve – neurologic recovery after surgery and anesthesia.
Please see our representative publications on perioperative neuroscience.
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