Systems & Computational
Computational, theoretical and systems neuroscience has been a recent focus of development for the neuroscience community at Cambridge. Computational neuroscience is an important research strategy of the Cambridge Computational Biology Institute. There are also particular strengths in experimental approaches in this area across a range of departments, including the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and the Department of Engineering. Systems neuroscience at Cambridge is increasingly dependent on theory to describe and analyse complex systems, as well as beginning to take an evolutionary approach. A wide range of techniques is used in this field and this is set to expand. A new Systems Biology Institute is being developed to provide a focus for genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics.
Principal investigators
Dr John Apergis-Schoute
The psychological link between appetite and emotions is clear. Often enough food consumption is powerfully influenced by emotional cues that are unrelated to energy requirements. As the amygdala and hypothalamus, two neural regions that code for a...
Dr Sabine Bahn
We are conducting an extensive research programme to define the molecular basis of schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder. The internationally recognised scientific team has received the second largest award ever from the Stanley Medical Res...
Horace Barlow
I measure human visual performance using tasks for which the necessary computations are likely to be performed in primary visual cortex. These measurements point to conclusions about the computational goals of early vision and how well these goal...
Dr Philip Barnard
My programme of work focuses mainly on Executive Control and Emotional Meanings in Cognitive and Neural systems. Current work is organised under four project headings: [a] Core Theoretical work on Interacting Cognitive Subsystems - a macro-theory...
Dr Tristan Bekinschtein
I am interested in non-classic approaches to study the physiology and cognition of consciousness.
Dr Alan Blackwell
I construct and apply models of human behaviour when interacting with technology. These models take a variety of forms, not all drawing on neuroscience, but I have a particular interest in neuroeconomic models of abstraction formation and use. Thi...
Dr Dennis Bray
How do bacteria find distant sources of food, and avoid noxious and potentially damaging environments? We seek answers to these questions by developing computer simulations of swimming bacteria exposed to gradients of different substances. Our pro...
Professor Ed Bullmore
I am interested in understanding human brain network organization from neuroimaging data in health and disease. My recent methodological work has focused on graph theory to measure aspects of brain network topology. I am also interested in bette...
Professor Malcolm Burrows
I work on the properties of neurons and the circuits they form to understand how they control behaviour. 1. Motor control. How do nonspiking local interneurons organise motor neurons to generate limb movements? How do spiking interneurons pro...
Dr Tim Bussey
We are interested in the neurobiology of visual learning, memory and perception. Our research is conducted at two different levels of brain organisation, the anatomical systems and neural network levels. The former is concerned with brain structur...- Dr Paula Buttery
The application of natural language engineering techniques to augment neuro-imaging analysis and experimental design. 
Dr Rudolf Cardinal
I am interested in computational models of attentional selection and cognition.
Professor Roberto Cipolla
My research in computational vision includes a number of areas, in particular the recovery of shape, object detection and recognition. My group has developed algorithms for reconstructing three-dimensional shapes of objects from multiple images as...
Dr Phil Corlett
Delusions are odd beliefs. They accompany many psychiatric illnesses, notably schizophrenia. A major challenge is to understand delusions in terms of changes in brain function. I attempted to meet this challenge by investigating the neural basis o...
Professor Andrew Crawford
I am interested in biophysics and physiology of the vertebrate inner ear , especially the cochlea. My research has focussed on the electrophysiology of cochlear hair cells with a view to understanding how they manage to respond to nanometre dis...
Dr Marek Czosnyka
Brain Physics is a very young branch of clinical neuroscience, certainly not defined in any encyclopedia. It summarizes physical interactions between volumes, flows and pressures in brain. Measurement, data processing and analysis, forecasting and...
Dr Mario de Bono
We seek to understand how neural networks are assembled, function and evolve. C. elegans is a powerful system to study neural circuits. The worm has exactly 302 neurons each of which can be identified. EM reconstructions have identified synapti...- Dr Richard Dyball
The neuroendocrine cells in the hypothalamus control all reproductive and homeostatic mechanisms. Using mainly electrophysiological methods, we study how the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus ("the biological clock") and its inputs from ... 
Dr Steve Edgley
I’m interested in how movements are controlled. Our everyday movements are performed with little conscious thought and are remarkably precise. Despite what the textbooks tell you, the way in which this is accomplished is poorly understood. I work ...
Dr Stephen Eglen
I use computational tools to help investigate mechanisms of neural development. In particular, I study the formation of retinotopic maps and retinal mosaics in vertebrate visual systems. In addition, I am interested in the analysis of large-scal...
Dr Giorgio Favrin
The focus of my research is to build and analyze the network of pathways associated with Alzheimer’s disease. We are currently measuring these interaction data in the yeast S. cerevisiae (baker’s yeast). We use these data, in conjunction with fr...- Dr David Franklin
I am interested in how we are able to develop models of the external world and use these to adapt our movements to new experiences. I am currently studying the adaptation of humans to novel force fields generated with a 2 degree-of-freedom robotic... 
Professor Zoubin Ghahramani
My current research interests include Bayesian approaches to machine learning, artificial intelligence, statistics, information retrieval, bioinformatics, and computational motor control. Statistics provides the mathematical foundations for handli...
Dr Maria Giannakou
Alzheimer's disease is the most common disease caused by protein aggregation. The major neuropathological characteristics of AD are extracellular plaques of a peptide called amyloid beta and intracellular tangles of hyperphosphorylated tau protein...
Professor Roger Hardie
Phototransduction, TRP channels and Calcium signalling in Drosophila Phototransduction in the fruitfly Drosophila is an important model for G-protein coupled signalling and fascinating in its own right. We study the underlying cellular and molecu...
Dr Michael Hastings FRS, FMedSci
Cellular and molecular basis to circadian rhythms in mammals and its relevance to metabolic and neurological disease.
Dr Berthold Hedwig
I analyse acoustic communication in insects like crickets or grasshoppers which produce species-specific sounds for mate attraction. I use behavioural, neurophysiological and optical imaging techniques with the aim to understand: 1. The neural me...
Dr Richard Henson
My primary interest concerns how we remember things. Specifically, I use the techniques of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electro- and magneto- encephalography (EEG/MEG) to examine brain activity as healthy volunteers try to reme...
Professor Joe Herbert
I am interested in the role of the brain in adaptive responses, with particular reference to the reciprocal interaction between hormones and the brain. My experimental work is focussed on the way that neural factors, such as serotonin and glucocor...
Dr Stefan Hetzer
- High-Resolution Echo-Planar Imaging at Ultra-Short Echo Times - Multi-echo and 3D EPI - Quantitative Perfusion fMRI - RF Coil Development
Dr Sean Holden
Our research covers assorted issues in both theoretical and applied machine learning. At present we are interested in: - Computational learning theory. How can we better understand the properties of machine learning algorithms in terms of, for ex...
Dr Gregory Jefferis
Our broad goal is to understand how smell turns into behaviour in the fruit fly brain. We use a combination of genetic labelling and manipulation, targeted in vivo whole cell patch clamp recording and high resolution neuroanatomy to study olfactor...
Professor Keith Kendrick
I am a Systems and Behavioural Neuroscientist using behavioural, neurophysiological and computational approaches to understand how neural networks are organised to control recognition and responses to social and emotional cues. l am investigating ...- Dr Anna Korhonen
Computational neurolinguistics, the application of natural language processing techniques to aid research in cognitive neuroscience, computational lexical semantics and comceptual structure 
Dr Nikolaus Kriegeskorte
- visual object recognition - pattern-information fMRI - computational modelling - species relationships
Dr Dina Kronhaus
My research is focused on studying connectivity and neural re-organisation, in the human brain, using theoretical modelling techniques to complement analysis of experimental data. I aim to identify overlapping yet distinct neural circuits implicat...
Dr Markus Kuhn
I am interested in information-theoretic and signal-processing aspects of neural physiology, in models of human perception and learning, and in computer architectures specifically designed to execute biologically plausible models of neural networks.
Dr Leon Lagnado
We are investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating synaptic transmission and the way these determine the processing of information by a neural circuit. The circuit we are concentrating on is the retina and the question that guid...
Professor Simon Laughlin
Our group is interested in discovering design principles that govern the structure and function of neurons and neural circuits. We record from well-defined neurons, mainly in flies’ visual systems, to measure the molecular and cellular factors tha...
Dr Nicolas Le Novere
My scientific interests revolve around signal transduction in neurons, ranging from the molecular structure of membrane proteins involved in neurotransmission to modelling signalling pathways. A strong focus is the molecular and cellular basis of ...
Dr Máté Lengyel
I study learning and memory from computational, algorithmic/representational and neurobiological viewpoints. I also maintain an active interest in the possible computational functions of neural oscillations, particularly those present in the hippo...
Dr Zhi-Yong Li
Biomechanics of plaque rupture Image-based computaional simulation modelling of aneurysm growth and rupture
Dr Pietro Lio'
I am interested in modeling multiscale phenomena and biological networks dynamics, developing statistical methods for the integration sequence, proteomics and microarray data analysis. I am currently modeling biological processes on networks; mo...
Professor David MacKay FRS
Bayesian inference and information theory; computation, learning, and memory in neural network models, including probabilistic and spike-timing-based models. Human-computer interfaces based on information theory, especially aimed at disabled peopl...
Dr Matthew Mason
I investigate the function and evolution of the middle ear apparatus in vertebrates. Comparative anatomy is backed up with more recent techniques, such as micro-CT and laser interferometry, in order to visualise the middle ear structures and exami...
Dr Brian McCabe
The neural mechanisms of learning and memory, particularly imprinting in the domestic chick. The young of many species, when exposed to a conspicuous object, rapidly learn the object's characteristics and subsequently narrow their social preferenc...- Professor John Mollon
My research interests are in the visual perception of colour, motion, form and depth; the genetic basis for individual variations in perception; the nature of the information carried by the cerebral bus; and the history of neuroscience and of colo... 
Dr Swidbert Ott
Our broad goal is to understand the mechanisms that enable animals of a given genotype to adjust to changes in their environment. As an experimental model we use Phase Change in the Desert Locust, an extreme and economically devastating example of...
Dr David Parker
My lab examines how interactions in neuronal networks generate behaviourally relevant network outputs, using the lamprey spinal cord locomotor network as a model system. We combine electrophysiological, computational, molecular, and anatomical app...
Dr Roy Patterson
We have developed a computational model of the auditory signal processing that transforms a sound wave into the auditory image you hear in response to that sound wave. We investigate how the cochlea and neural centres in the auditory pathway proce...
Dr Stefano Pluchino
Recent evidence from our own laboratory indicates that the systemic injection of somatic neural stem/precursor cells (NPCs) very efficiently protect the CNS from the chronic degeneration induced by inflammation both in small rodents as well as in ...
Dr Taufiq Rahman
My research interests broadly lie in two categories - structure-function studies of intracellular calcium channels and rational design and development of selective modulators of signalling proteins including ion channels
Dr Carl Edward Rasmussen
I work on probabilistic inference and machine learning. What are the mathematical foundations of learning from experience in biological systems?
Dr Akhilesh Reddy
My group is interested in circadian rhythms, which are daily cycles of physiology and behaviour that persist when organisms are isolated from the outside world. They represent a fundamental biological mechanism, and are present at all levels of li...
Professor Trevor Robbins
Research interests span the areas of cognitive neuroscience, behavioural neuroscience and psychopharmacology. Main work focuses on the functions of the frontal lobes of the brain and their connections with other regions. These brain systems are re...
Dr Hugh Robinson
We study synaptic integration in mammalian cortical neurons - encoding of synaptic inputs into patterns of action potentials, or spikes. We are currently interested in - development of advanced electrical stimulation techniques (conductan...
Dr James Rowe BA BM BCh PhD
Characterisation and optimisation of prefrontal cortical functions in health and disease. The functions of the prefrontal cortex remain controversial yet they are of great importance to our everyday life, thoughts, actions and self expression. I ...
Mikail Rubinov
I conceptualize large-scale human brain anatomy and activity as a complex network of brain regions and interregional associations. I use brain-imaging -- such as magnetic-resonance-imaging -- data sets and computer simulations to model healthy and...
Professor John Rust
The development, evaluation and implementation of psychometric tests and psychometric testing procedures. As Director of The Psychometrics Centre I have been responsible for the UK standardisation of many of the most widely used psychometric tests...
Professor Aldo Rustichini
My research is focused on neuroeconomics, and in particular on the neural foundation of Decision Theory and the neural basis of dominance and competition.
Dr Lisa Saksida
We are working toward a better understanding of the psychological processes underlying memory and perception through a programme of theoretically-driven experimental research using both healthy subjects and brain-damaged populations. Research in m...
Professor Wolfram Schultz
Please see http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/news/article.php?permalink=a8feeeff87 for details of current available positions. Our group is interested to relate the mechanics of brain activity to measurable behaviour. We combine neurophysiological...
Dr Christof Schwiening
Electrical activity of neurones is associated with calcium influx through various channels. Most neurones extrude this calcium very rapidly on the plasma-membrane calcium pump (PMCA). Our research shows that this extrusion occurs in exchange for h...
Professor Murray Shanahan
I am primarily interested in cognitive architecture, both as it is found in Nature and as it might be realised artificially. Because I'm committed to the view that cognition and embodiment are initmately related, I also have a strong interest in r...
Dr Peter Smielewski
In an established environment of Clinical Neuroscience Dept large quantities of data can be captured from bed-side monitors. Using that data, continuous assessment of changing cerebrovascular haemodynamics and oxygenation is possible but requires ...
Dr Ewan Smith
The main interest of the Smith lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms by which sensory neurones detect noxious stimuli, so-called nociceptors. We are particularly interested in how acid activates nociceptors in both physiological and pathop...
Dr Emmanuel A Stamatakis
My research interests fall into two distinct categories. One involves investigating brain function/structure in a more integrative manner with structural/functional connectivity analyses. The second involves the evaluation of lesions in patients a...
John Suckling
Neuroimaging is a major contributor to the renaissance of experimental psychiatry and psychology. Drawing on the extensive infrastructure of Cambridge Neuroscience and Department of Psychiatry’s close links between research and clinical practice, ...
Dr Richard Turner
My research lies at the interface between computer perception (which builds artificial systems for understanding images, sounds and videos), neuroscience (which tries to understand the brain) and machine-learning (which provides a theoretical fram...
Dr Gonzalo P. Urcelay
I am interested in learning theories and the neurobiological substrates of acquired behaviour. I am currently conducting studies to assess the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in the transition from goal-directed to habitual behaviours and its...
Dr Bert Vaux
--grounding of phonological learning in a mathematical implementation of evolutionary information theory. --phonological cognition. --implications of selective aphasias, first and second language acquisition phenomena, processing and production ef...
Professor Michele Vendruscolo
My research is aimed at taking full advantage of an approach that exploits effectively the synergy between experiment and theory in order to advance towards a full characterisation of the process of protein aggregation. We have developed a metho...
Dr Ian Wilkinson
My research is clinically orientated and centres on the physiology and pharmacology of the cardiovascular system, and particularly the large arteries and endothelial function. As a clinical pharmacologist, I combine detailed physiological measure...- Dr Ian Winter
Primitive neural mechanisms of auditory scene analysis. My research searches for neurophysiological correlates of the cues necessary for the segregation and fusion of auditory objects. This work is carried out in close collaboration with psychop... 
Professor Daniel Wolpert
The group uses engineering approaches to understand how the human brain controls movement. The work includes both computational modelling and experimental approaches using robotic and virtual reality interfaces. Research areas include motor planni...
Professor Steve Young
My primary interest is in adaptive learning in spoken dialogue systems. This currently involves modelling human machine dialogues using the framework of Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs). The research issues addressed incl...
Research and Collaboration
News, events and seminars
Information for...
