Healthcare teams neurodynamically reorganize when resolving uncertainty

Abstract

Research on the microscale neural dynamics of social interactions has yet to be translated into improvements in the assembly, training and evaluation of teams. This is partially due to the scale of neural involvements in team activities, spanning the millisecond oscillations in individual brains to the minutes/hours performance behaviors of the team. We have used intermediate neurodynamic representations to show that healthcare teams enter persistent (50-100 s) neurodynamic states when they encounter and resolve uncertainty while managing simulated patients. Each of the second symbols was developed situating the electroencephalogram (EEG) power of each team member in the contexts of those of other team members and the task. These representations were acquired from EEG headsets with 19 recording electrodes for each of the 1-40 Hz frequencies. Estimates of the information in each symbol stream were calculated from a 60 s moving window of Shannon entropy that was updated each second, providing a quantitative neurodynamic history of the team's performance. Neurodynamic organizations fluctuated with the task demands with increased organization (i.e., lower entropy) occurring when the team needed to resolve uncertainty. These results show that intermediate neurodynamic representations can provide a quantitative bridge between the micro and macro scales of teamwork.