Our Research

We study the neural processes important for forming long-lasting memories, and how those processes fail in patients who have memory dysfunction. We use cognitive neuroscience techniques, including behavioural testing, high resolution functional MRI, and EEG to study the hippocampus - a brain structure in the temporal lobes that is critical for creating new memories - and its interaction with the neocortex where memories are ultimately stored.

How are new memory traces integrated into the neocortex over time, and how are they organized?

A focus of the lab is understanding systems consolidation – the process by which new hippocampus-dependent memory traces become strengthened and integrated into neocortical storage sites. There is evidence that hippocampal-neocortical interaction is important for strengthening neocortical memory traces during the moments of rest that follow learning. We study the process of how memory traces are strengthened during post-learning wake and sleep, how those memory traces are organized in the brain, and how they change with time and experience.

What is the neural basis of accelerated forgetting in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy?

We also study clinical populations in which the process of systems consolidation ultimately fails. Some patients with temporal lobe epilepsy show accelerated long-term forgetting. Such patients can learn and remember new information relatively normally early on, but memory is forgotten at an accelerated rate in the hours to days following learning. One focus of the lab is on understanding the neural basis of this type of forgetting.

What is the intrinsic functional organization of the hippocampus?

The hippocampus is not a unitary structure, rather, it is made up of several subfields consisting of distinct cytoarchitecture that varies along its long-axis. One line of research concerns understanding the functional organization of the hippocampus along its anterior-posterior and medial-lateral axes. We aim to understand the differential connectivity, representation, and signal dynamics along these axes, how these measures relate to memory, and how they are affected by hippocampal damage.