Breathing and Brain Development
We investigate whether changes in breathing effect brain development and how the brain and respiratory systems mature in premature babies.
Apnoea - the cessation of breathing - is a common pathology associated with prematurity. These potentially life-threatening events can result in reduced cerebral oxygenation and frequent episodes of apnoea have been associated with long-term effects including reduced childhood cognitive ability. We investigate how changes in breathing alter brain activity in premature infants, how the brain and respiratory systems mature, and how medication and pathology effects these systems. We've produced a series of animations related to this work which you can watch here.