Cell and systems analysis of spatial and episodic memory

I aim to understand how we find remember where things are and the things that happen to us in everyday life. I aim to do this by understanding how the actions of neurons in different parts of the brain enable these functions, including using computers to see how neurons can work together as well as experiments involving data from single cells, functional neuroimaging and studying patients with specific brain damage. To perform realistic experiments I will use recent advances in virtual reality to provide controlled situations in which to do these things. This is important for the following reasons. Diagnosing a neurological disease and monitoring its progress often depends on being able to measure its effect on behaviour. Many neurological conditions affect our ability find our way around and to remember things, e.g. Alzheimer‘s disease - the most common form of dementia. Where brain surgery may be required (as in some cases of intractable epilepsy) it is also useful to be able to tell which part rain is affected using behavioural tests, and imaging techniques. At a more basic level, understanding how the neurons and neural systems work will aid the development of new medicines. This type of basic research can also have unforeseen knock-on effects: aiding scientific discoveries in related fields such as pharmacology, computer science, engineering.