Blog | Sainsbury Wellcome Centre

An example hippocampal neuron that obtains a new place response after first firing in replay.

Imagining the future: exploring the role of hippocampal replay

Researchers from SWC, University of Oxford and Stanford University, set out to understand how humans and animals can learn very quickly to respond appropriately in new situations and environments by relying on previous experience. They hypothesised that building maps, instead of experiencing them state by state, could be the answer.

Image of a book with the title "The Power of WHY" on the left page and "77 Human Needs" on the right page

Approaching a career crossroads in light of our values

What brought you into science and academia? What made you stay? SWC Research Fellow Jasmine Reggiani explores careers and values in academia.

Mapping the brain’s superhighways within and across cortical hemispheres

When you watch a pianist play, you can see how their left hand is in perfect harmony with their right. Yet the two hands are controlled by different brain hemispheres. Researchers at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre at UCL and Jena University Hospital have been studying how this works by looking at the interconnectivity of different brain areas both within and across hemispheres.

It must be something I ate – How the brain learns what made you sick

Most of us have had the experience of being put off a particular food after it made us ill. But how does the brain know what made you sick? Dr Christopher Zimmerman, a postdoctoral researcher at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, studies body-to-brain communication and how it influences nearly every aspect of our behaviour. Chris recently spoke at SWC as an ENSS winner, and in this Q&A he discusses his work on how our bodies and our brains connect.

Exploring the geometry of decision-making

From synchronised starlings in the sky to the coordinated actions of ants, nature is truly mesmerising. In a recent SWC seminar, Professor Couzin presented his latest findings on the geometric principles of decision-making. In this Q&A, he shares how these could impact real world problems from robotics to crowd control.

Replaying the past, predicting the future: A new model of the hippocampus

Dr Daniel Levenstein describes his work to understand how replay of waking experience is generated during sleep, and how replay is used to consolidate memory.

Mapping the migratory bird brain

A new digital 3D brain atlas, for a migratory songbird, is now available for the scientific community

Making sense of rhythms in the brain

Brain waves often capture the imagination when it comes to explaining what happens between our ears. However, the precise functions of these neural oscillations are not yet clear. We spoke with 14 neuroscientists who shared their thoughts on the role of rhythms in the brain and cognition, including coordinating brain areas, influencing memory and sleep, and contributing to synchrony.

Finding the brain’s “real” tuning curves: a SIMPL approach

Place cells fire when an animal enters a specific location. But what happens when an animal just thinks of a location, rather than physically visits the spot? This presents a significant challenge for neuroscientists. SWC PhD student Tom George was determined to help find a way to trace the brain’s “real” tuning curves. Working with colleagues across SWC, the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit and UCL, the team developed a new method called SIMPL.

Bridging senses and disciplines

In this Q&A article, SWC seminar speaker Dr. Jan Gründemann from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) talks about his work to understand how the brain integrates sensory inputs to make memories.

Decoding confidence: lessons from the lab

Confidence comes in many forms. Imagine you are lying in bed, and you think you might smell something burning. While you might not be confident about the smell, you are confident you should get up to check. Research led by SWC Group Leader Dr Jeffrey C. Erlich and NYU graduate student Xiaoyue Zhu set out to disentangle the neural mechanisms underlying these different kinds of confidence.

25 February 2025

The do’s and don’ts of publishing in Nature Neuroscience

Following her recent seminar at SWC, Chief Editor of Nature Neuroscience, Shari Wiseman shares her expert advice on positioning research papers for success, debunks common myths about the publication process, and offers a glimpse into the future of scientific publishing.

24 February 2025