Physiopathology of brain-wide assemblies in adaptive memory
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
When making decisions, we often draw on previous experience. This ability to inform behaviour from memory relies on the fine-grained coordination of activity between nerve cells in the brain. The hippocampus is a region of the mammalian brain where the activity of such “cell assemblies” has been related to memory-guided behaviour. However, memories of important life events are expected to span multiple brain regions, with each region processing a particular dimension of information. This organisation of information representation could be at the heart of the complexity of the cognitive disabilities associated with natural ageing and certain neurological/psychiatric diseases. Here, we will first seek to provide a comprehensive mechanistic explanation of how cell activities distributed across multiple brain regions support complex, detail-rich memories. In this work, we will further consider unwanted memories related to drugs of abuse that underpin maladaptive responses, investigating how cross-brain-region communication drives the re-emergence of behaviourally-extinguished drug memory. We will finally identify brain mechanisms of inferential reasoning, a higher-order operation that allows individuals to deduce logical links between sets of information that have not been experienced together. This work is intended to provide principles of interventions to harness brain physiopathology of maladaptive memory.
Technical Summary
Memory is central to adaptation, enabling individuals to infer from past experience how to respond to ever-changing situations. The idea that groups of neurons transiently synchronize their spiking activity to organize information-representing cell assemblies has laid the foundation of scientific investigations carried at the nexus between brain, memory and behaviour. Notably, past work has established how neural dynamics of assemblies in the hippocampus circuit serve memory-guided behaviour. However, memories of important, salient events are expected to span multiple brain circuits, with each circuit processing a particular dimension of mnemonic information. This organisational principle of neurally-distributed memory items could be at the heart of the complexity of the cognitive disabilities associated with natural ageing and certain neurological/psychiatric diseases. Here, we seek to obtain a comprehensive mechanistic explanation of how neuronal activities distributed across brain regions allow the division of representational labour involved in complex, detail-rich memories. We will perform this work while keeping in mind that not all memories serve adaptive behaviour. This is notably the case of strong memories related to drugs of abuse that underpin the expression of maladaptive responses. Throughout this programme, we will deploy a number of cutting-edge strategies, including cell-type-selective and input-defined optogenetic interventions as well as real-time manipulation of brain circuit dynamics, to establish causal links with behavioural phenotypes. We will first determine how temporally-patterned cooperation of neuronal spiking distributed across memory circuits allows brain-wide operations to serve optimal behaviour in situations of uncertainty caused by multiple information streams. We will then investigate how cross-brain-region communication relates to the renewal of behaviourally-extinguished drug-paired memory and associated re-occurrence of drug seeking. We will finally provide a comprehensive description of the macrocircuit and microcircuit mechanisms of inferential reasoning, a higher-order operation that allows combining discrete memory items to infer logical associations between sets of information that have not been directly experienced together. In doing so, our research programme will identify neuronal motifs and pathways supporting memory-guided behaviour. This work is intended to provide principles of interventions to harness network physiopathology of maladaptive memory.
Publications
Barron HC
(2021)
Neural inhibition for continual learning and memory.
in Current opinion in neurobiology
Barron HC
(2021)
Cross-species neuroscience: closing the explanatory gap.
in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
Barron HC
(2020)
Neuronal Computation Underlying Inferential Reasoning in Humans and Mice.
in Cell
Barron HC
(2020)
Prediction and memory: A predictive coding account.
in Progress in neurobiology
Clarke-Williams CJ
(2024)
Coordinating brain-distributed network activities in memory resistant to extinction.
in Cell
Ekhtiari H
(2022)
A checklist for assessing the methodological quality of concurrent tES-fMRI studies (ContES checklist): a consensus study and statement.
in Nature protocols
El-Gaby M
(2021)
An emergent neural coactivity code for dynamic memory.
in Nature neuroscience
Fernandez-Ruiz A
(2023)
Over and above frequency: Gamma oscillations as units of neural circuit operations.
in Neuron
Gava GP
(2021)
Integrating new memories into the hippocampal network activity space.
in Nature neuroscience
Gava GP
(2024)
Organizing the coactivity structure of the hippocampus from robust to flexible memory.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
| Description | Eco-friendly research |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| Impact | We are assembling a European Network of research scientists from the field of Life sciences to assess ways to implement sustainable research. |
| Description | Knowledge transfer about research practice with the scientific council of the French Embassy in London |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Patient and Public Advisory Group |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.mrcbndu.ox.ac.uk/news/units-patient-and-public-advisory-group-continues-shape-future-res... |
| Description | Public Outreach Committee |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Research staff is being trained to share their knowledge to the general public, and notably to discuss animal related work in medical research. Notably, this allows changing public attitudes towards how scientific research is delivered and the use of animals in research. |
| Description | Cross-Network Novelty Encoding along the VTA-Hippocampal Pathway |
| Amount | £17,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 2445705 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2020 |
| End | 09/2024 |
| Description | Cross-regional coactivity for the formation of brain-wide neuronal assemblies |
| Amount | SFr. 118,600 (CHF) |
| Funding ID | P500PB_206885 / 1 |
| Organisation | Swiss National Science Foundation |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 03/2024 |
| Description | Hippocampal-Hypothalamic Network Mechanisms of Maladaptive Contextual Eating |
| Amount | £914,378 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | MR/W004860/1 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2021 |
| End | 09/2025 |
| Description | Molecules of Mind- Epigenetics of Memory Network Dynamics |
| Amount | $200,000 (USD) |
| Funding ID | CP2-1-0000000466 |
| Organisation | Chan Zuckerberg Initiative |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 03/2024 |
| End | 04/2025 |
| Description | UK DRI Grand Challenges Award Programme 2022 |
| Amount | £1,690,295 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | DRI-GCFA223 |
| Organisation | UK Dementia Research Institute |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2023 |
| End | 07/2026 |
| Title | Genetic construct for Cre-dependent expression of Flp recombinase pAAV-EF1a-DIO-FLPo-Myc |
| Description | This genetic construct generated in my laboratory allows users to express the recombinase Flp conditioned to the expression of the recombinase Cre. This construct is used for cell-type-selective optogenetic manipulation of nerve cells in the mammalian brain. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This construct has allowed to identify the neural pathway supporting the behavioral expression of appetitive memories in the adult mammalian brain (https://www.mrcbndu.ox.ac.uk/publications/hippocampus-accumbens-tripartite-neuronal-motif-guides-appetitive-memory-space). This construct is available at Addgene (see URL below). |
| URL | https://www.addgene.org/124641/ |
| Title | Genetic construct for Cre-dependent expression of optogenetic silence ArchT pAAV-EF1a-FDIO-ArchT-GFP |
| Description | This genetic construct generated in my laboratory allows users to express the neuronal silencer ArchT conditioned to the expression of the recombinase Flp. This construct is used for cell-type-selective optogenetic silencing of selective nerve cells in the mammalian brain. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This construct has allowed to identify the neural pathway supporting the behavioral expression of appetitive memories in the adult mammalian brain (https://www.mrcbndu.ox.ac.uk/publications/hippocampus-accumbens-tripartite-neuronal-motif-guides-appetitive-memory-space). |
| URL | https://www.addgene.org/124640/ |
| Title | analytical tool for network oscillations using Empirical Mode Decomposition |
| Description | A set of Python programs to extract frequency content of network oscillations |
| Type Of Material | Physiological assessment or outcome measure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This toolbox allows identifying non-linear and non-stationary oscillatory components of complex signals. |
| URL | https://pypi.org/project/emd/ |
| Title | 3D printable files for objects to use in mouse object recognition tasks |
| Description | These .stl files can be used for printing by any 3D printing method, but filament extrusion was used originally, to allow a wide range of materials to be used. To increase the recognisability of the objects, some parts were printed in filaments of the following types: PLA of various colours. Pet-G, translucent, of various colours. PLA-based wood of various shades (dark wood, light wood, tropical wood). PLA-based 80% copper filament. If the file names have a -A or -B suffix, these paired files are assembled into a single object after printing. The 'Top.stl' part is glued on top of each object to prevent climbing. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://data.mrc.ox.ac.uk/data-set/recognition-objects |
| Title | Analysis of hippocampal ensembles during Contextual Feeding and cNOR tasks |
| Description | This dataset contains two jupyter notebooks and python scripts to run some exemplar analysis from the article 'Organising the coactivity structure of the hippocampus from robust to flexible memory'. The jupyter notebooks provided are: - 'cNOR_task.ipynb' which computes the object/location coding analyses shown in Figures 1 and 4 - 'coactivity_cond+cnor.ipynb' reproduces some of the coactivity analyses shown in Figures 1 and 4. In the 'results' folder are stored processed data that are loaded throughout the notebooks. The python script 'makeGraphbatch.py' computes coactivity graphs during active exploration times (theta-informed) from the spiking data, available here: https://data.mrc.ox.ac.uk/data-set/hippocampal-ensemble-recordings After downloading, ensure the spiking data folder is named 'data' and placed inside the root folder 'orgCoactHippo'. See script for more info. Inside the 'recordings' folder, there are text files that list the recording days belonging to each task. That is: 'cond_ll145' and 'cond_ll149' lists the food-context conditioning days for each animal, while `cnor_x` and `cnor_y` list the cnor days in the two contexts, regardless of the animal's identity. The python library 'util_func.py' data loading and processing functions used by the python script and notebooks. See script for more info. 'difference_estimation_plot.py' is a python library to produce estimation plots as in the article. For the analysis in the original paper, this code was run in Python version 3.10. Execution of the code requires the following libraries: matplotlib 3.7.1 matplotlib-inline 0.1.6 networkx 2.8.4 numpy 1.24.3 pandas 1.5.3 pandas-ods-reader 0.1.4 scikit-learn 1.2.2 scipy 1.10.1 seaborn 0.12.2 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://data.mrc.ox.ac.uk/data-set/code-analysis-ensembles-contextual-feeding-cnor |
| Title | Code used for analysis of task-relevant, time-resolved functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (fMRS) |
| Description | This package contains code for Preprocessing of fMRS data (matlab), fsl_mrs code for simulations of fMRS data (python), Code for analysis of behavioural data (matlab), Code to assess relationship between fMRI and fMRS data (matlab) and Plotting functions |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This package allows scientists to study and analyse functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy |
| URL | https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:4ff5cd17-a794-4f85-8666-b07de85d2301 |
| Title | Code used for analysis of task-relevant, time-resolved functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (fMRS) |
| Description | This package contains code for: Preprocessing of fMRS data (matlab), fsl_mrs code for simulations of fMRS data (python), Code for analysis of behavioural data (matlab), Code to assess relationship between fMRI and fMRS data (matlab) and Plotting functions. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This research dataset and codes allow scientists to analyse functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy acquired in humans. |
| URL | https://data.mrc.ox.ac.uk/data-set/frms-code |
| Title | Combined fMRI-fMRS dataset in an inference task in humans |
| Description | This dataset consists of the following components: fMRI data showing group maps for contrasts of interest (nifti) raw fMRS data of 19 subjects (dicom) preprocessed fMRS data of 19 subjects, preprocessed in MRspa (mat) behavioural data from inference task during MRI scan (mat) behavioural data from associative test post MRI scan (mat) Participants performed a three-stage inference task across three days. On day 1 participants learned up to 80 auditory-visual associations. On day 2, each visual cue was paired with either a rewarding (set 1, monetary reward) or neutral outcome (set 2, woodchip). On day 3, auditory cues were presented in isolation ('inference test'), without visual cues or outcomes, and we measured evidence for inference from the auditory cues to the appropriate outcome. Participants performed the inference test in an MRI scanner where fMRI-fMRS data was acquired. After the MRI scan, participants completed a surprise associative test for auditory-visual associations learned on day 1. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This dataset allows studying neural mechanisms of inferential reasonning in humans |
| URL | https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6ce36198-7b7f-4cbf-9261-d18931ac460c |
| Title | Dentate Spike Waveforms |
| Description | This dataset contains the waveforms of dentate spikes extracted from the local field potential (sampled at 1 kHz) of the dorsal hippocampal formation of 8 mice using linear probes. These animals were subjects of research across three different laboratories, and the raw data from these recordings have been previously analyzed in distinct original studies. For comprehensive information, consult the relevant publication linked below. Each file within this dataset corresponds to the data collected from a single animal and is structured as a 3D matrix of channels by dentate spikes by amplitude samples. Each dentate spike is composed of 401 amplitude samples centred at the peak, with each sample representing a one-millisecond time bin. I.e., being the DS peak at t=0, the time window ranges from -200 to 200 ms. The number of channels varies according to the linear probe used in each mouse. The index of the channel in hilus, which was chosen for the DS detection, is indicated below: Mouse A (reference 4) - channel index 8 Mouse B1 (reference 3) - channel index 31 Mouse B2 (reference 2)- channel index 25 Mouse B3 (reference 2)- channel index 30 Mouse C1 (reference 1)- channel index 15 Mouse C2 (reference 1)- channel index 27 Mouse C3 (reference 1)- channel index 26 Mouse C4 (reference 1)- channel index 31 For guidance on how to read the data, please visit the following link https://github.com/tortlab/dentate-spikes. Related pre-print Santiago RMM, Lopes-dos-Santos V, Aery Jones, EA, Huang Y, Dupret D, Tort, ABL Waveform-based classification of dentate spikes 2023. bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2023.10.24.563826 References 1. Aery Jones EA, Rao A, Zilberter M, Djukic B, Bant JS, Gillespie AK, Koutsodendris N, Nelson M, Yoon SY, Huang K, Yuan H, Gill TM, Huang Y, Frank LM. Dentate gyrus and CA3 GABAergic interneurons bidirectionally modulate signatures of internal and external drive to CA1. 2021. Cell Rep. 37(13):110159. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110159 2. Lopes-dos-Santos V, Brizee D, Dupret D. Spatio-temporal organization of network activity patterns in the hippocampus. 2023. bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2023.10.17.562689. 3. Lopes-dos-Santos V, van de Ven GM, Morley A, Trouche S, Campo-Urriza N, Dupret D. Parsing Hippocampal Theta Oscillations by Nested Spectral Components during Spatial Exploration and Memory-Guided Behavior. 2018. Neuron. 100(4):940-952.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.09.031. 4. Senzai Y, Buzsáki G. Physiological Properties and Behavioral Correlates of Hippocampal Granule Cells and Mossy Cells. 2017. Neuron. 93(3):691-704.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.12.011. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b2e5513a-0041-46a3-8e56-9b3d381efee0 |
| Title | Detection of cell assemblies |
| Description | Development and refinement of analytical tools to detect coordinated neuronal activity forming functional cell assemblies |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Validation to the behavioural relevance of short time-scale hippocampal assembly-patterns |
| Title | Hippocampal ensemble recordings in Contextual Feeding and cNOR tasks from mice |
| Description | This dataset consists of data to reproduce some of the results in the article 'Organising the coactivity structure of the hippocampus from robust to flexible memory'. The data is composed of electrophysiological recordings from hippocampus CA1 of 3 mice going through the food-context conditioning paradigm and the cNOR task in both contexts, without any optical manipulation (Figs 1, 2 and 4). Each recording day is stored in a separate folder (e.g. 'mll145-210220'). Inside each folder the data is organised in the following way: - '.desen': describe the "design of the environment", that is an ordered list of experimental conditions format: '' - '.resofs': list with last integer sample of each recorded session (sample freq = 20kHz) - '.res': list with number of integer samples (starting at 0) at which the peak of a spike is to be found (i.e. ordered list of spike times sampled at 20kHz) - '.clu': cluster assignment for each of the detected spikes in the .res file. 0. the first line is the total number of clusters in the file. Note that both cluster 0 and cluster 1 are considered noise clusters and not analysed. The rest of the .clu file is the cluster id for each spike in the .res file. - '.desv': assign a cell type to each cluster id. That is an ordered list of the neuron types of the clusters format: `` - '.whl': ordered list of locations of the animal - '.theta.*': files characterising theta cycles recorded from the tetrode closest to the pyramidal layer centre. - '.desel': describes the 'design of electrodes', i.e. the anatomical region of the brain that is targeted. Format: ' or (e.g. 1 for CA1)' The 'recordings' folder contains text files that list the recording days for each task. That is 'cond_ll146' and 'cond_ll149' list the food-context conditioning days for the 2 animals, while 'cnor_x' and 'cnor_y' list the cnor days in the two contexts, regardless of the animal identity. This 'data' folder should be placed inside the analysis folder (default name "orgCoactHippo") available for download https://doi.org/10.60964/bndu-r97n-bg26 to run the analyses from raw data available in the jupyter notebooks. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://data.mrc.ox.ac.uk/data-set/hippocampal-ensemble-recordings |
| Title | Instantaneous frequency profiles of theta cycles |
| Description | This dataset contains the local field potentials recorded from 10 tetrodes located in the mouse dorsal CA1 hippocampus and the simultaneous movement tracking data for two recording sessions, from each of three mice. There are three subdirectories, each containing four datafiles: two raw 64-channel .eeg files (binary file; 1,250Hz sampling; hence, sample interval is 800 microsecs) and two .whl files (text file; 39.0625Hz sampling; an ordered list of X,Y locations of the animal; 2-column format). All data recordings are made during open field exploration. The data runs ending with *_2.eeg and *_2.whl correspond to exploration of a familiar environment and the runs ending with *_5.eeg/*_6.eeg and *_5.whl/*_6.whl correspond to exploration of a novel environment. Each subfolder contains two meta-data files. A .desel file that reports the location of each tetrode. In this dataset a value of '1' indicates CA1; 'cx' indicates cortex. A .par file that describes the acquisition parameters of the dataset, the correspondence between individual channels and tetrodes (max 4 channels per tetrode), and the list of whitelisted channels suitable for further analysis. A commented example of a par file is below (though the actual files do not contain comments) |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This package provides a novel technique to assess oscillatory dynamics in brain networks |
| URL | https://data.mrc.ox.ac.uk/data-set/instantaneous-frequency-profiles-theta-cycles |
| Title | Topological analysis of hippocampal CA1 co-firing graphs |
| Description | This package allows applying a novel technique from graph-theory to neuronal networks. In the dataset provided, each matrix contains the hippocampal CA1 co-firing graphs computed using the spike trains of pyramidal cells recorded from mice during active exploratory behaviour (i.e., excluding immobility epochs and sharp-wave/ripples) in four different tasks: (i) conditioned place preference (CPP), (ii) exploration of a novel context (without reward), (iii) spontaneous place preference (SPP) for a novel context and (iv) rewarded exploration of an otherwise familiar context (without CPP). In these co firing graphs, each node represents one cell; the edge linking any two nodes represents the coactivity of that cell pair, with a weight computed as the Pearson correlation coefficient between their spike trains. Each co-firing graph is defined by its adjacency matrix, whose elements are the edges of the graph / co-firing relationships between pairs of neurons indexed by the rows and columns of the matrix. For each matrix, the code provided (python 3.6) analyses the co-firing relationships among pyramidal cells for the 6 sessions recorded on that task day. Graph-theoretical measures are obtained for each co-firing graph (one graph per task session) and their dynamics across the 6 task sessions are analysed. See the paper 'Integrating new memories into the hippocampal network activity space' for description of the task and detailed methods. Notably, these example co-firing graphs and codes relate to figures 1, 2 and extended data figure 2. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This package allows applying a novel technique from graph-theory to neuronal networks. |
| URL | https://data.mrc.ox.ac.uk/data-set/topological-analysis-hippocampal-ca1-co-firing-graphs |
| Title | Triple hippocampal (DG-CA3-CA1) multichannel tetrode recordings from mice exploring spatial arenas alternating with sleep/rest epochs |
| Description | |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://data.mrc.ox.ac.uk/data-set/dg-ca3-ca1-tetrode-recordings-mice |
| Description | Brain and behavioral dynamics of social interaction |
| Organisation | École Normale Supérieure, Paris |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | My laboratory is providing expertise in brain network physiology linked to social behaviour |
| Collaborator Contribution | My collaborator is providing expertise in theoretical modelling of social dynamics |
| Impact | This collaboration is multidisplinary, including experts in statistical physics and brain network physiology |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Graph theory and neuronal population activity |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Department | Mathematical Institute Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | My laboratory is providing expertise and data about brain dynamics in memory |
| Collaborator Contribution | My collaborators are helping supervising PhD students and to develop new methods to analyse brain function using graph theory |
| Impact | design and test of new methods to analyse neuronal cooperation in the brain |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Soft matter dynamics in the brain |
| Organisation | University of Oxford |
| Department | Department of Physics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | My laboratory is providing expertise and data about brain dynamics with respect to learning processes |
| Collaborator Contribution | My collaborators are providing methods and concepts about soft matter processes relevenat to neural tissue |
| Impact | The collaboration is currently yielding grant applications, new analytical methods, PhD student co-supervision and design of new neural electrodes |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | hippocampal network physiology in the human brain |
| Organisation | National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS) |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In this collaboration, my laboratory is deploying expertise in brain network dynamics to analyse neural dynamics in the human hippocampus. Notably, we use state-of-the-art spectral decomposition of the local field potentials recorded from the human brain during memory tasks where participants use their memory abilities to draw conclusions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | My collaborators are collecting the data at the hospital, running the memory task and brain recordings with the human participants. |
| Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary and cross-species: this project combines in vivo brain electrophysiology and medicine; rodents and humans. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | neural dynamics in AD |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In this collaboration, my laboratory is deploying expertise in brain networks to reveal dysfunctional neural dynamics in Alzheimer Disease. Notably, we use state-of-the-art spectral decomposition of the local field potentials recorded from the brain during memory tasks where participants use their ability to continually learn new information to adjust their behaviour on a moment-by-moment basis. |
| Collaborator Contribution | My collaborators are providing expertise in the neurobiological basis of AD pathology. |
| Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary and cross-species, allowing to combine multiple techniques (molecular biology, electrophysiology, imaging, medicine) to assess early biomarkers of AD onset in humans and rodents. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Featuring the brain in a museum exhibition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Research staff contributed to a large and new exhibition held at the Banbury Museum & Gallery (Oxforshire) by providing microscopic images to illuminate in beautiful details the circuits and cells of the mammalian brain. The exhibition, entitled "Your Amazing Brain: A User's Guide", ran from 12th February to 5th June 2022 and was an interactive, family-friendly experience offering the public an opportunity to journey inside the brain and discover more about what makes the brain so special. The Unit's images formed the core of a gallery piece "Zoom into your brain" that showcases, at increasing magnification, the organisation of the brain into regions, different types of neurons, and specialised structures such as axons, dendrites, and synaptic connections. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.banburymuseum.org/events/your-amazing-brain/ |
| Description | General public documentary: The Symphony of the Brain |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | This documentary explains to the general public the notion of brain waves, and how this processs supports memory and movements. This documentary is available to anyone on the Youtube channel. It is a producion made in partnership with Oxford Sparks. Video Summary: "We can think of singers in a choir as neurons in the brain. Like these singers, neurons have to work together to create harmony, and once they do, the results are magnificent!" When neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain communicate with each other, they generate synchronised electrical activities known as brain waves. But what is the function of these brain waves? Can we 'see' them? What happens if these collective activities go 'out of sync'? In this video, Demi Brizee, a PhD student in the Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit at the University of Oxford, introduces us to the fascinating world of brain waves, and explains how a better understanding of them could lead to new therapies for neurological conditions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| URL | https://youtu.be/2YFHVyl8l1I |
| Description | General public seminar about brain and memory |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I discussed recent advances in the field of memort to the general public, annswering all questions from the audience. This event has allowed to clarify to the general public recent advances in the field of memory. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.seh.ox.ac.uk/events/fellowship-lunchtime-lectures-professor-david-dupret |
| Description | In2science 'virtual placement programme' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | In July/August 2020, MRC BNDU continues to participate in the previously partnered with the charity In2science to host Year 12 school pupils enrolled on their STEM work-experience programme. Each summer, for the past 4 years, we have delivered personalised mentoring and rich STEM experiences for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Charles Clarke-Williams from Dupret group together with some members of the Brown/Tan/Magill group took part in a research-based module "Interacting with the brain" that was jointly designed and delivered in support of In2scienceUK's Virtual Placement Programme. They organised webinars and research tasks (with real data!) for the students who took part. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://in2scienceuk.org/ |
| Description | Internship with the Royal Institution |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | One of our PhD student has started a competitive three-month internship with the Royal Institution of Great Britain. The Ri is a charity that works to improve the relationship between scientists and the public, supporting open access and scientific discourse for all. During this internship, our stduent is working with their digital media team to create engaging content, including YouTube videos, livestreamed talks, written blogs, podcast episodes, TikToks, and more! |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Locked-in: science on screen |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I joined a group of University of Oxford neuroscientists for a film screening and discussion about The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the true story of a former Elle editor, Jean-Dominique Bauby. Briefly, a major stroke leaves Bauby almost entirely paralysed, with the exception of his left eye. Bauby uses the experience to redeem himself for his less than exemplary life. In this event, I discussed the film's premise that consciousness is at the core of humanity and discussed scientific knowledge about locked-in syndrome, stroke and brain plasticity. This event contributed to the 2021 Oxford Science+ideas Festival (9-26October 2021), which comprised of 36 online and 67 face-to-face events with covid measures in place; a total of 35,000 people engaged with on-demand or live contents including 6,500 who came to 20 Oxford venues with 1.4 million social media users. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://if-oxford.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IF-2021-PROGRAMME.pdf |
| Description | New Scientist Live 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Unit researchers brought cutting-edge neuroscience to the public through interactive exhibits and live demonstrations at this year's New Scientist Live event, held in London from 12th to 14th October. New Scientist Live is a huge festival of ideas and discoveries, showcasing the latest in science and technology, with an attendance of over 25,000 people. Visitors to the MRC BNDU stand were invited to immerse themselves in the latest advances in neuroscience, exploring how researchers can decode brain signals to understand movement, memory, and early indicators of neurological disorders. The Unit stand was a hub of hands-on activities, offering visitors a chance to see a brain-machine interface (BMI) in action and to witness how these innovative technologies may transform communication and interaction. Visitors were talked through each activity by some of the Unit's early-career researchers. Postdoctoral researcher Shenghong He demonstrated the potential of BMI by spelling words on a screen using signals from his brain, recorded by an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap. This demonstration captivated audiences and led to discussions about how we can utilise brain waves in the future. Another popular activity at the Unit stand was the chance to look through a fluorescence microscope and observe dopamine cells in the brain. This special experience allowed visitors to see firsthand the cellular structures that play a crucial role in the brain's movement and reward circuits, sparking insightful conversations about how studying these cells is essential to understanding complex brain functions and changes in brain conditions such as Parkinson's. Visitors were also introduced to other innovative research methods, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive technique that enables scientists to stimulate nerve cells and cause responses like muscle twitches. Young attendees were especially delighted to use the TMS machine to stimulate the researchers' muscles! Visitor feedback from the event reflected the enthusiasm and curiosity sparked by the MRC BNDU stand. When asked to describe their visit in one word, feedback was overwhelmingly positive: attendees called the experience "informative," "fascinating," "awe-inspiring," and "super interesting." The Unit team's interactions with attendees further solidified the experience as a highlight, with one visitor remarking on the "amazing experience" and "wonderful presenters." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.mrcbndu.ox.ac.uk/news/unit-brings-neuroscience-research-public-new-scientist-live-2024 |
| Description | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar - AI and brain science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | We held on open discussion on AI and medical research with year-12 students |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Patient and Public Advisory Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | On 9th July, we met with members of our Patient and Public Advisory Group to canvass their views on the Unit's research direction and plans. The Advisory Group is made up of people with lived experience, as patients and carers, of diverse neurological and psychiatric conditions. The meeting started with a summary of a 15-year collective research vision. This was followed by a lively discussion and Q & A session with the Group, moderated by the Unit's Patient and Public Involvement Lead Associate Professor Melanie Fleming. Conversations were centred around a range of topics, from patient needs and concerns to research priorities and on to emerging neurotechnology options for therapy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.mrcbndu.ox.ac.uk/news/units-patient-and-public-advisory-group-continues-shape-future-res... |
| Description | STEM placement scheme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Over the 2022 summer and half-term break, the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit once again hosted school pupils enrolled on an innovative work-experience placement scheme that was organised in partnership with the charity in2scienceUK. The placement scheme was tailored for pupils from local state-funded schools to support their progress into university degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). During their time in the Unit, the pupils worked alongside Unit researchers and were given personalised mentoring to gain a wide variety of practical experiences, from electrical engineering to electron microscopy. The pupils also learned more about key concepts and challenges in neuroscience and medical research. In parallel to Unit-based activities, the pupils received guidance on university applications, wider information about STEM careers, and training in transferable skills from in2scienceUK. The pupils recorded their experiences and progress in blogs, images, and videos. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.mrcbndu.ox.ac.uk/news/unit-hosts-school-pupils-another-successful-stem-placement-scheme |
| Description | Special Forum at FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | 14 July 2020, at the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence (FKNE), Professor David Dupret took part in a Session on Environmentally friendly Science. This special forum discussed what we can do to adopt a more sustainable model for life-sciences. The organizers presented the results of a small survey performed among neuroscientists and their research institutes to trigger the discussion on the environmental footprint of our community and to start identifying solutions. A panel of academics, activists and life-science industry representatives, among others, shared their viewpoints and experiences implementing concrete actions towards an environmentally friendly life-science framework. In addition to raising awareness on the impact of life sciences on the environment, they highlighted the need to better measure and document this impact, including plastic and Co2 emissions in scientific events and research centers. they also aim to draw up a list of concrete actions that define gold-standards of sustainability for our scientific community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://forum2020.fens.org/event/sie05-towards-an-environmentally-friendly-model-for-life-sciences-1... |
| Description | the Science Wonder Garden Party 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On 13th July, Unit researchers shared some of the MRC BNDU's innovative science with the public attending the Science Wonder Garden Party at the University of Oxford Begbroke Science Park. The Garden Party aimed to engage people of all ages with the amazing science taking place around the University of Oxford and beyond. Brain Waves and Brain Health Demi, a PhD student at the Unit, took part in the Oxford Sparks Live session and spoke about brain waves and their role in brain function. Demi's presentation centred on the Unit's public outreach video "The Symphony of the Brain", created in partnership with Oxford Sparks, and showcased how brain waves can be recorded and used to understand the brain in health as well as to potentially treat conditions affecting the brain. Demi's talk was part of a session that featured five other Oxford Sparks videos and researchers, followed by a 'meet the scientist' Q&A session that helped the audience directly engage with the researchers. Demi's talk clearly impressed the audience, with one member of the public enthusing, "This was truly amazing!" Spotlight on Biomedical Engineering Joram, a Senior Postdoctoral Neuroscientist at the Unit, took part in the 'Spotlight on Engineering' public engagement talks organised by Oxford's Department of Engineering Science. Joram's presentation was focused on the interaction between sleep and deep brain stimulation therapy, highlighting the Unit's collaborative efforts in this area of research. During his workshop, Joram made good use of creative metaphors to explain his science, encouraging the audience to actively engage with the ideas underpinning his work. Demi and Joram particularly enjoyed the insightful questions from the audience. The family-friendly environment, live music, food stalls, and good weather all helped to make this a highly successful outreach event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.mrcbndu.ox.ac.uk/news/unit-shares-research-public-science-wonder-garden-party-2024 |