Dopamine transporter and memory (Dr Vincent Croset)

Dr Vincent Croset has been awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Grant to investigate how dopamine transport shapes memory processes in the brain.

Recent work by the Croset lab in Drosophila fruit flies reveals an unexpected finding: dopamine transporters (DAT) are present in memory-related neurons that do not produce dopamine themselves. This suggests a novel mechanism for regulating dopamine signalling and memory recall. The project will explore how DAT controls memory formation and retrieval, what happens to dopamine inside these neurons, and the evolutionary origins of this unusual regulatory system.

Serotonin and neuroplasticity (Dr Marco Bocchio)

Dr Marco Bocchio has recently been awarded a Springboard Award from the Academy of Medical Sciences to study how optogenetically-evoked endogenous release of serotonin triggers neuroplasticity in amygdala and prefrontal cortex in mice. These two key brain regions are critical for emotional behaviour, anxiety and depression. The findings may give insights into more selective treatments for psychiatric conditions.

Music, memory and imagination (Dr Kelly Jakubowski)

Prof. Kelly Jakubowski is leading a Leverhulme Trust-funded project exploring how music can be a useful tool for probing the shared mechanisms underpinning memory and imagination

Jakubowski’s group recently published an article that surveys research on music-evoked autobiographical memories and music-evoked fictional imaginings. The paper proposes an integrative framework to unite these two strands of work, aiming to illuminate broader questions about the shared mechanisms underlying memory and imagination.

Context and memory (Prof. Alex Easton)

Prof. Alex Easton and Dr Jeremy Kendal have been awarded IAS funding on "Representing Memory". This is a broad interdisciplinary project exploring how different disciplinary perspectives can challenge orthodox models of memory within psychology and neuroscience. By considering explicitly how memory acts in the real world, and producing testable models that can be adopted within psychology and neuroscience, the project aims to offer testable ideas that will help better translation from the lab to the clinic.

Prof. Easton has also published recent papers addressing on context and memory, e.g.:

• Easton, A., Horner, A. J., James, S. J., Kendal, J., Sutton, J., & Ainge, J. A. (2024). Context in memory is reconstructed, not encoded. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 167, 105934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105934 
• Ross, T. W., Poulter, S. L., Lever, C., & Easton, A. (2024). Mice integrate conspecific and contextual information in forming social episodic-like memories. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 16159. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-66403-4