ProfessorStephenBrickley

As well as electrophysiological recording, my laboratory has expertise in confocal and multi-photon imaging methods, optogenetic and pharmacogenetic strategies, as well as developing dynamic-clamp techniques, to control neuronal excitability. 

My work combines state of the art functional and morphological observations with computational approaches to generate realistic models of network properties in order to better understand the neuronal computations that take place in brain regions such as the cerebellum, thalamus and neocortex

Funding

• My work on ageing is currently funded by a BBSRC grant (£677,827) “Relating changes in synaptic function to cognitive decline during normal healthy ageing” awarded in 2016.
• In 2014, I was co-applicant on an EPSRC capital equipment grant (£451,000) that forms the basis of the Connectomics facility in the Centre for Neurotechnology. In collaboration with members of the Centre I have been developing the TissueCyte technology to generate high-resolution 3D tomography data of whole brains that can map specific connections using AAV tracing as well as rabies virus based methods.
• My research on thalamic interneurons has recently been funded by the BBSRC (awarded October 2017 “Exploring novel mechanisms for the control of thalamic interneuron excitability during sensory processing” - £453,000) that applies these techniques to the mouse visual system.