BBSRC David Phillips Fellow
- Principal Investigator
I explore what it is that makes brains the way they are. Primates, and especially humans, have exceptionally large brains for their body size. Between primates, brains differ in size and in their internal organization. Why is this? I believe that each brain is an adaptation to the particular environment its owner lives in. I try to understand differences between brains as the result of deviations from ancestral brains that arose to deal with challenges in the environment.
To study these question my group and I use two complementary approaches. First, we study how the human brain is organised and works using a range of non-invasive brain imaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Second, we use magnetic resonance imaging to compare the organizion of different brains. We scan the brains from deceased animals to study the size, location, and connections of different brain regions and compare these between species.
Preserved extrastriate visual network in a monkey with substantial, naturally occurring damage to primary visual cortex.
Bridge H. et al, (2019), Elife, 8
The brain-structural correlates of mathematical expertise
Popescu T. et al, (2019), Cortex, 114, 140 - 150
Mapping multiple principles of parietal–frontal cortical organization using functional connectivity
Vijayakumar S. et al, (2019), Brain Structure and Function, 224, 681 - 697
Control of entropy in neural models of environmental state.
Muller TH. et al, (2019), Elife, 8
Offline impact of transcranial focused ultrasound on cortical activation in primates
VERHAGEN L. et al, (2019), eLife, 8