Blog | Sainsbury Wellcome Centre

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How important is cell type in decision-making?

In a recent SWC Virtual Seminar, Dr Anne Churchland shared her work exploring excitatory cell class during decision-making in mice. In this Q&A she highlights how insights from developmental biology led her to appreciate the significance of diversity in excitatory neurons.

Bird of prey swooping down on mouse escaping (Image credit: Julia Kuhl)

Navigating to safety by memorising subgoals

Researchers at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre investigated the behavioural strategies of mice faced with the challenge of navigating to a shelter in response to threat when their direct path is blocked.

Illustration of brains and two rodents with text overlaid "SWC Speaker Series"

Uncovering internal representations in the hypothalamus

Dr Ann Kennedy recently gave a SWC Virtual Seminar on her postdoctoral work on a part of the brain thought to be involved in the flexibility of naturalistic survival behaviours: the interconnected nuclei of the extended amygdala and hypothalamus. In the following Q&A, she shares her research on hypothalamic representations of internal state and behaviour.

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How does the brain perceive time to enable cognition?

Every day we think, apply rules and plan ahead, but how does the brain perceive time to allow us to perform these cognitive functions? SWC Seminar Speaker, Dr Joe Paton, explains how his research may help us understand the way basal ganglia circuits contribute to aspects of decision-making, action selection and motor control.

Journeys in Neuroscience

What is a neuroscience PhD really like?

Steve Lenzi, the first ever SWC student to be awarded their PhD, shares his journey in science so far and some of the highlights during his time as a PhD student in the Margrie Lab at SWC.

Single slices of 3 brain images showing detected cells

Using deep learning to aid 3D cell detection in whole brain microscopy images

Researchers in the Margrie lab at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre have developed an algorithm that can accurately detect cells in whole mouse brain images in a mere fraction of the time it takes to accomplish manually.

Zebrafish brain with SWC Speaker Series text banner

How do astrocytes in the brain tell the body when to give up?

Knowing when to give up is crucial for survival. But how does the brain enable the body to switch behaviours when an action isn’t achieving its goal? In his recent SWC Virtual Seminar, Dr Mu outlined his research showing the importance of a type of cell in the brain called astrocytes.

Flock of birds in the sky with SWC Speaker series text overlaid

Understanding how collective behaviour leads to collective intelligence or stupidity

Like a flock of birds in the sky, our behaviour is influenced by those around us. Professor Krause, who recently gave a SWC virtual Seminar, outlines his research on how animals make decisions in groups and the potential applications of these principles for human society.

Mouse primary and higher visual areas seen from the top. Sonja Hofer and her team at the SWC are trying to uncover the precise organisation and function of a higher-order thalamic nucleus called the pulvinar, which is the largest thalamic area in humans and is strongly interconnected with the part of the cerebral cortex responsible for vision.

Exploring how the thalamus contributes to cognition

Sonja Hofer and her team at SWC are trying to uncover the precise organisation and function of a higher-order thalamic nucleus called the pulvinar, which is the largest thalamic area in humans and is strongly interconnected with the part of the cerebral cortex responsible for vision.

Improving translation by building bridges between industry and academia

Understanding and addressing mental and neurological disorders is an urgent need, with hundreds of millions of people affected worldwide. Neuroscience has a major role to play, but how can industry and academia work together most effectively to tackle these challenging unmet needs? We are pleased to partner with the British Neuroscience Association on the ‘Building Bridges Between: Industry and Academia’ initiative.

SWC Speaker Series banner image showing chess board

Visual circuits for action – an evolutionary perspective

Your ability to play chess, drive a car, or even just read this article, all depends on your brain’s capacity to link perception with action. In this Q&A, Dr Sarah Ruediger explains her strive to understand the structure and function of the neural circuits that give rise to an animal’s ability to use sensory information to implement purposeful actions.

Diagram of Neuropixels 2.0

Developing Neuropixels 2.0 to stably track neurons over months

Described in a new paper published in Science, the new Neuropixels 2.0 probes build upon the success of the original Neuropixels probes to improve stability, among other features, so that recordings of the same neurons can be performed over longer time periods in small animals.