Stephen Burton

Stephen Burton is a research associate and the lab manager for the O’Keefe group. His research is directed toward unravelling the role of the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus in spatial memory and their involvement in Alzheimer's disease models. The Medial Entorhinal Cortex has been implicated in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Stephen uses electrophysiological and behavioural methods to test aged mice that have been genetically modified with human associated Alzheimer mutations (Swedish, Iberian and Artic (APP-NL-F and APP NLG-F). Stephen is also investigating how spatial properties of grid and place cells are affected by changing the geometry of an animals’ environment. Stephen is also interested in the properties of the dentate gyrus, a region of the hippocampus that is one of the few brain regions that continuously generates new neurones. The vast majority of these neurones are quiescent and appear to have no function. He also is an active member of the SWC’s AWERB and NC3R groups.