Neurosciences

Overview

As neuroscientists we study the brain and wider nervous system from its individual neuronal and glial component parts up to its activity as an integrated whole. We use this information to explain normal behaviours, to determine the origins and mechanisms of dysfunction and degeneration, and to devise new treatments.

The Neuroscience Research group has strong links with the Faculty of Medicine and Human Sciences, local hospitals and other research centres. These links are facilitated by the Neuroscience Research Institute, that brings together neuroscientists in Manchester and across the North West.

Research group leader: Dr Stuart Allan

Principal investigators

Members

  • Stuart Allan - Inflammation in acute and chronic neurodegenerative disease
  • Richard Baines - Acquisition of electrical properties in embryonic neurons
  • David Bechtold - Circadian controls of metabolism and feeding behaviour: implications for obesity and diabetes
  • David Brough - Triggers and mechanisms of inflammation following brain injury
  • Tim Brown - Neural circuits controlling subconscious visual responses
  • Maria Canal - Development and early programming of the circadian clock; effects on physiology and behaviour
  • Fred Cody - Control of human voluntary movement and its abnormalities in neurological disorders
  • Natalie Gardiner - Extracellular matrix and the sensory nervous system. Pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy
  • John Gigg - Mammalian hippocampal formation
  • Nicholas Glossop - Molecular control of clock cell development and maintenance
  • Ken Grieve - Neurophysiology of the visual brain
  • Mark Humphries - Systems neurophysiology: knowledge-discovery and simulation for neural activity data
  • Ruth Itzhaki - Cell and molecular biology of Alzheimer's disease and neurovirology
  • Catherine Lawrence - How changes in energy balance influence central nervous system disease
  • Andrew Loudon - Molecular mechanisms controlling seasonal and circadian timing
  • Rob Lucas - Retinal function and circadian clocks
  • Simon Luckman - Central regulation of appetite and body energy levels
  • Catherine McCrohan - Comparative neurophysiology and behaviour of invertebrates
  • Qing-Jun Meng - Clocks, ageing and diseases
  • Jaleel Miyan - The role of cerebrospinal fluid in normal and abnormal brain development and the role of nerve fibres in host defence and immunity
  • Marcelo Montemurro - Dynamics and information processing in neuronal populations
  • Rasmus Petersen - Somatosensation, neural coding and neural computation
  • Hugh Piggins - Neuropeptides and behaviour
  • Emmanuel Pinteaux - Mechanisms of extracellular matrix remodelling in inflammatory responses to central nervous system disorders
  • Nancy Rothwell - Actions of inflammatory molecules in the brain
  • David Sattelle - Exploring mechanisms and routes to therapy for brain and neuromuscular disorders using C. elegans. Ligand-gated Ion channels as targets for human and animal health drugs.
  • Ingo Schiessl - Intrinsic functional brain imaging and investigation of the hemodynamic response function
  • Neil Todd - The human vestibular system
  • Jon Turner - Neurophysiology of sensorimotor and mnemonic systems, and the impact of disease states
  • Alexei Verkhratsky - Regulation of neuronal endoplasmic reticulum calcium stores by intraluminal calcium
  • Anne White - Neuroendocrine regulatory networks in obesity and diabetes

Affiliates

  • Matthew Cobb - Behaviour genetics, olfaction and chemical communication
  • Curtis Dobson - Novel host / pathogen interactions in the CNS: a basis for developing new anti-infective drugs?
  • Emma Gowen - Cognitive neuroscience
  • Owen Jones - Targeting of ion channels in the central nervous system
  • Niall McLoughlin - Brain imaging
  • Andreas Prokop - Molecular mechanisms underlying axonal growth and synapse formation
Astrogliosis around an amyloid plaque.

Astrogliosis around an amyloid plaque.

Electron micrograph showing neutropil.

Electron micrograph showing neutropil.

Rat sensory neuron in culture.

Rat sensory neuron in culture stimulated with neurotrophin-3, stained for beta III tubulin (Natalie Gardiner).

Brain endothelial cell.

Brain endothelial cell (green = CXCL1 chemokine, red = CCL2 chemokine, Blue=DAPI) (Peter Thornton).

Brain MRI.

Brain MRI (Barry McColl).

Drosophila photoreceptors.

Drosophila photoreceptors expressing channel opsin-2 labelled with Alexa fluor 555 (Helena Baines).

CA3 oriens interneuron KV 4-2.

CA3 oriens interneuron KV 4-2.

Sensory neuron growth cone.

Sensory neuron growth cone (green= beta III tubulin, red=actin) (Natalie Gardiner).

 

About us

Highlight publication:

Kinases keeping your clock ticking (Neuron. 2008 58(1):78-88)

Highlight publication:

Whisking sensation in the rat thalamus (Neuron. 2008;60(5):890-903)

Highlight publication:

Spikes and local fields in the visual cortex (Curr Biol. 2008 18(5):375-80)

Highlight publication:

How systemic inflammation may influence the severity of acute brain injury (J Neurosci. 2008 28(38):9451-62)

Our newest recruit:

Dr Qing-jun Meng awarded MRC career development fellowship.