Apply to the Neuropharmacology MRes

Stage one: review research project themes

Please review the research themes/project titles and make a note of your preferred theme/title. You will then need to add this to your personal statement when submitting your application. Your personal statement should explain your interest in the research theme/project, along with any other supporting information.

We offer a variety of projects each year in a wide range of specialist neuropharmacology fields. Please take a look through the list below to find out more. If you have any questions about a specific project please contact the project supervisor directly via the contact details provided.

The role of synaptic plasticity in the development of epilepsy

My research is focused around the mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in physiological and disease states. By using a combination of electrophysiology, functional imaging and molecular biology, we can probe the receptors and cellular processes that cause neural circuits and synapses to alter their strengths and functions in response to the changing stimulus of the outside world. This natural process would appear to be subject to critical developmental periods and be disrupted in several psychiatric and neurological conditions, so further study of its function and dysfunction is crucial to our understanding of neuroscience and psychiatry.

Supervisor: Stuart Greenhill

Drug and disease-related changes in neuromodulation affecting synaptic plasticity

Experience-dependent modifications in synaptic connections underlie memory, and modulatory neurotransmitters play a central role in regulating this neuroplasticity. It is unclear, though, how dysfunctions in neuromodulation linked to brain pathology or drug abuse alter synaptic mechanisms essential to cognition. Dr Caruana uses electrophysiology, pharmacology, molecular biology, and behaviour to determine how modulatory neurotransmitters and nootropic compounds modify synapses in the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortices to affect sensory and mnemonic processing.

Supervisor: Dr Douglas Caruana

Modulation of neural dynamics involved in movement

Supervisor: Dr Boubker Zaaimi

Dr Zaaimi’s research is concerned with developing sophisticated stimulation protocols, with the goal of treating human disease using closed-loop stimulation paradigms and brain-machine interface algorithms to induce neuromodulation of brain rhythms.

The Zaaimi lab uses different recording and stimulation techniques in humans and develops cutting-edge methods – including a recently developed unique closed-loop algorithm to boost and suppress brain rhythms involved in movement, memory, and other functions.

The role of AMPAr trafficking and homeostatic synaptic scaling in epileptogenesis

The Woodhall lab focuses on the development of epilepsy. Currently, we are working on an MRC grant funded project investigating homeostatic AMPAr trafficking, synaptic scaling and scaling of intrinsic excitability in the development of epileptogenic neural circuits. To do this we perform neurosurgery in rats and record ECoG in vivo, as well as in vitro electrophysiological studies (whole cell patch clamp, local field potential recordings).

Supervisor: Professor Gavin Woodhall

Epileptogenesis and the immune system

Epilepsy affects more than 50 million people worldwide (WHO), and although 70% of patients will be responsive to treatment, the remainder will remain resistant, putting them at risk of death from severe uncontrolled seizure activity. Despite the frequency of this disease, there is still limited understanding of how epilepsy develops (epileptogenesis), and why it becomes refractory to treatment. The immune system is becoming increasingly recognised as a potential contributor to epileptogenesis and is implicated in nearly 40% of the most devastating epilepsy syndromes. In this theme of research you could analyse the effects of experimental perturbations in the immune system in pre-clinical epilepsy models using immunohistochemistry, electrophysiology and behavioural testing techniques. Understanding the role of the immune system in epileptogenesis will pave the way for new treatments that could improve the outcomes of affected patients.

Supervisor: Dr Sukhvir Wright

Early Life Stress and neurodevelopment

Exposure to early life stress (ELS) is linked with the development of psychiatric conditions. The developing brain is plastic, thus ELS may affect the development trajectory of the brain by altering developmental processes such as neurogenesis. How ELS alters neurogenesis to ultimately modify brain function and behaviour is unclear. To mimic ELS, my research uses an optogenetic zebrafish model in which we can non-invasively elevate endogenous cortisol levels in a living animal using blue light exposure. Using this model, we can analyse the effects of ELS on neurodevelopment and function in vivo.

Supervisor: Dr Helen Eachus