Born 27 June 1948 in the United Kingdom, received his BA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and his D.Phil from Sussex University. He is Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh and an Honorary Associate of the Instituto de Neurociencias in Alicante. 

His longstanding interest is the neurobiology of learning and memory. This work focuses on the role of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in memory formation and consolidation. It has involved the development of novel behavioural tasks (including the watermaze and the event arena) and joint theoretical ideas such as the concept of synaptic tagging and capture. Current projects include optogenetic investigation of neuromodulation of cellular memory consolidation, and the role of prior knowledge, particularly ‘schemas’, in systems memory consolidation. One group in the lab is investigating the relevance of these ideas with respect to memory enhancement and the development of novel therapeutics for Alzheimer’s Disease.  

Title of talk:
The making and keeping of memories