Prof. Matthew Nolan
- Personal Chair of Neural Circuits and Computation
- mattnolan@ed.ac.uk
Organisation Associations
Current research interests
Our current research is organised along three inter-related themes.
1. How are neural circuits in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex organised? We use a combination of optogenetic, electrophysiological and molecular techinques to investigate circuit organisation. A particular current focus is the inter- and intra-layer organisation of the medial entorhinal cortex.
2. How do hippocampal-entorhinal circuits carry out computations? We use theoretical and computational methods to explore how experimentally determined circuit mechanisms carry out computations. Particular current interests are entorhinal mechanisms for generation of grid firing and hippocampal mechanisms for generation of theta sequences.
3. How do hippocapal-entorhinal computations contribute to behaviour? To test predictions of models for hippocampal-entorhinal computation we are combining molecuar tools developed through our circuit analysi experiments with novel behavioural strategied based on use of virtual reality to manipulate animal behaviour.
Research in a nutshell
The brain's extraordinary cognitive capabilities result from computations carried out by groups of neurons organised into circuits. Understanding how neural circuits implement computations is a major unsolved scientific problem. We address this using state-of-the-art optical, electrical and molecular technologies, with a particular focus on the neural computations that underlie learning and memory. Our research has implications for understanding normal cognitive function and for cognitive disorders including Alzheimer's and autism spectrum disorders.