Neuroscience at Royal Holloway

1 About Neuroscience at Royal Holloway

Royal Holloway is a constituent college of the University of London. basic and clinical aspects, often with strong translational themes. Members of the neuroscience group are based in the Department of The research profiles below show that the neuroscience work spans Psychology and the School of Biological Sciences (SBS) - both have across a number of levels: molecular, cellular, systems, behavioural established world-class reputations for research. In the most recent and cognitive neuroscience, through to theoretical and computational Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), the Department of Psychology neuroscience. ranked joint fifth out of 76 UK departments, and the SBS ranked joint The group attracts substantial funds from all UK research councils, third out of 51 departments. third stream funding from business, a range of charities including the The neuroscience group at Royal Holloway consists of about 20 Wellcome Trust and a number of other sources. Since 2005, the group members of academic staff and members of their research groups. has attracted approximately £10 million in research funding. The range of research is wide and cross-disciplinary, encompassing

Research Facilities Behaviour and Psychophysics:

The neuroscience group at Royal Holloway benefits from a range of • IR Eye Tracker (Eyelink 2 & 3) state-of-the-art research facilities and our members have considerable • Video Eye Tracker (CRS Ltd.) expertise in related techniques: • Psychophysics Graphics Systems (VSG I, II, Visage) • Tobii Eye Tracker Facilities for molecular, cellular and slice work: • SR Eyelink 1000 Remote Eye & Head Tracker • 6 Camera Vicon 3D motion tracking system • Mass spectrometry • Large FoV immersive, fixed platform, city centre driving simulator • Proteomics and metabolomics facilities • Portable platforms for measuring seated/standing CoP Virtual • Level-3 ACGM containment suites Environment generation software) • Monoclonal antibody production unit • Psycholinguistics computer laboratory, sound proof chamber, speech • Facilities for cell culture recording equipment, and electropalatography studio • Automated DNA and peptide sequencers (both operated as technical • Cambridge Electronic Design 1401 A/D units services) • High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems with a Contact Us wide range of detectors, Please contact Dr Narender Ramnani if you would like further • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS), LC-electrospray information or if you would like to explore the possibility of working with and MALDI TOF MS the group or using the facilities for your research. • Phosphorimager T: +44 (0)1784 443519 • Real time-quantitative PCR [email protected] • Scanning spectrofluorimeter • Epifluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopes • Scanning and transmission electron microscopes • Flow cytometer • Marine and freshwater aquaria • Insect culture rooms • Computing resources for molecular modelling and digital image-processing. • X-ray fluorescence spectrometer • Multi-collector plasma source mass spectrometer • Electrophysiology suite

Human Neuroimaging and Brain Stimulation:

• 3 Tesla Siemens Trio Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanner (see page 3) • A range of MRI-compatible equipment (response boxes, microphone, eye tracker) • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) units for brain stimulation experiments • ‘Visor’ ANT Neuronavigation system to be used with TMS • AD Instruments Physiological Recordings Units (GSR, Heart Rate) • Electroencephalography suit (128 channels, stimulus presentation and data analysis facilities)

2 Magnetic Resonance Imaging at Royal Holloway

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become indispensible This brain imaging facility was installed in 2003 and funded mainly by the for the study of structure and activity of the human brain, yielding Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF). The Department of Psychology significant insights into its systems-level organisation. was the first in the UK to have a research MRI scanner on its premises. It has been supported by substantial grant funding, has been core to the The MRI unit at Royal Holloway houses a Siemens 3 Tesla Trio MRI generation of several high-profile research papers and provides an excellent scanner. It is research-dedicated, and located adjacent to the Wolfson training environment for post-doctoral scientists and PhD students. Building where most of the Department of Psychology’s labs and offices are located. The MRI facility has recently undergone a major upgrade that provides it with considerably enhanced capabilities.

3 2) The role of the adaptor protein Slap in homeostatic plasticity

Slap is a gene expressed in the cortex and the hippocampus. In collaboration with Prof V. Tarabykin (Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany) we have shown that upon EphA signalling, Slap is recruited along with NMDA receptors at synaptic sites in hippocampal neurons. Interestingly, its role is to induce activity-dependent degradation of NMDAR.

NMDA glutamate receptors have key roles in neuronal development and information storage in the mammalian brain. These receptors are glutamate-gated cation channels whose permeability to Ca2+ regulates significant aspects of synaptic plasticity. Furthermore, excess Ca2+ influx through NMDARs mediates cell death in certain Dr Pavlos Alifragis neurodegenerative processes. Therefore, neurons must precisely control NMDAR levels. School of Biological Sciences 3) The Planar Cell Polarity signalling pathway in the developing cortex. [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 414988 The basic architecture of the cerebral cortex consists of neurons Research arranged in six layers. This architecture reflects the organisation of 1) Signaling mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease projections from pyramidal neurons to distant subcortical targets or to The extracellular deposition of Aß is one of the histopathological other cortical regions. We are interested in delineating the mechanisms hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The identification of Aß as the by which the precise navigation of cortical axons develops. major component of senile plaques, led to the belief that deposition Recent publications suggest that molecules of the PCP pathway of Aß, was responsible for neuronal cell death, and is still considered are involved in axonal guidance in the mammalian brain. I am as one of the primary causes of AD, even though Aß deposition alone interested in the mechanisms by which the PCP pathway regulates does not fully account for the pathology of AD. Consequently, a role the development of cortical axons and their target selection. tes for intracellular Aß (iAß) as a supplementary trigger for defective encodes for a LIM domain protein homologous to prickle 1 and 2. neuronal physiology and neuronal cell loss (as an early event in AD) is In the brain, it is expressed in the upper part of layer five neurons in becoming gradually clearer. the developing motor, visual and auditory cortex. Our unpublished We have recently shown that Aß interacts with a ubiquitous observations suggest that a subset of cortical axons is misrouted. We synaptic vesicle (SV) protein called Synaptophysin (Syp) suggesting a are currently analysing in detail the phenotype of the mutant animals. unique and surprising role of Aß in the physiology of neurons. This We use a variety of Biochemical and histological approaches for interaction is important because we showed that upon internalisation, our projects. Aß is quickly transported to the presynaptic terminus inducing aberrant neurotransmitter release as a result of Aß disrupting the Biography interaction between Syp and VAMP2 (a SNARE protein). My career in research started at the University of Crete, Greece, where I completed my MSc Degree and PhD, studying the Currently we are investigating the effects of Aß in the development of the CNS in Drosophila melanogaster, phosphorylation pattern of target molecules and also look into how drugs used for treatment of early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease Currently, the focus of my research towards more therapeutically reverses these effects. relevant areas such as signalling mechanisms implicated in homeostatic regulation of NMDA receptors, and the synaptic mechanisms affected by amyloid-beta (Aß) in an effort to better elucidate the fundamental cellular mechanisms underlying the manifestation of Alzheimer’s.

Selected Publications Sophia Semerdjieva, Hayder H Abdul-Razak, Sharifah S. Salim, Rafael J Yáñez-Muñoz, Philip E Chen, Victor Tarabykin and Pavlos Alifragis.

Recruitment of Slap upon EphA activation downregulates NMDA receptors Submitted

Figure: A model showing the mechanism by which Slap is downregulating the levels of NMDAR's. B-D, representative images showing that in neurons activation of NMDAR's can lead to its activity dependent degradation at sites where Slap is also

4 Claire L. Russell, Sophia Semerdjieva, Ruth M. Empson, Brian M. Biography Austen, Philip W. Beesley, Pavlos Alifragis. Professor Phillip Beesley was appointed lecturer in Biochemistry at Amyloid-ß acts as a regulator of neurotransmitter release disrupting Royal Holloway University of London in 1973 and was promoted to theinteraction between Synaptophysin and VAMP2. PLoS one Senior Lecturer in 1996. He was promoted to Reader in 2003 and full Professor in 2006. He has been Visiting Professor at the University of Britanova Olga*, Alifragis Pavlos*, Junek Stephan, Kevin Jones, Peter Toronto and at the Leibniz Insitute for Neurobiology in Magdeburg. Gruss and VictorTarabykin. Tangential migration of cortical projection neurons: a novel mode of migration that depends on Reelin (Dev Biol. Professor Bessley’s work has been funded by the BBSRC, NERC and 2006 Oct 1;298(1):299-311.) the Wellcome Trust. He has spent periods of sabbatical leave in the Pharmacology Department at Oxford University, Toronto University, the Lieinbiz Institute for Neurobiology Magdeburg, and Kings College London. He was appointed as Dean of Science at Royal Holloway from 2005–2011 and Vice Principal for Research from 2011–2012.

Selected Publications Claire L. Russell, Sophia Semerdjiev, Ruth M. Empson, Brian M. Austen, Philip W. Beesley, Pavlos Alifragis (2012) Amyloid-β acts as a regulator of neurotransmitter release disrupting the interaction between Synaptophysin and VAMP2. PLoS ONE, in press Jama AM, Gabriel J, Al-Nagar AJ, Martin S, Baig SZ, Soleymani H, Chowdhury Z, Beesley P, Török K. (2011) Lobe-specific functions of Ca2+·calmodulin in alphaCa2+·calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II activation. J Biol Chem. 286:12308-16. Esapa CT, Waite A, Locke M, Benson MA, Kraus M, McIlhinney RA, Sillitoe RV, Beesley PW, Blake DJ. (2007) SGCE missense mutations Professor Philip Beesley that cause myoclonus-dystonia syndrome impair epsilon-sarcoglycan School of Biological Sciences trafficking to the plasma membrane: modulation by ubiquitination and torsinA. Hum Mol Genet. 16:327-42. [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443546 Empson R. M., Buckby L. E., Kraus M., Bates K. J., Crompton M. Research R., Gundelfinger E. D. and Beesley P. W. (2006) The cell adhesion Professor Phillip Beesley’s research focuses on the molecular and molecule neuroplastin-65 inhibits hippocampal long-term potentiation cellular mechanisms of synapse development and synaptic plasticity. via a mitogen-activated protein kinase p38-dependent reduction in Much of his work has focussed on investigating the function of two surface expression of GluR1-containing glutamate receptors. closely related cell adhesion molecules, the neuroplastins, discovered J Neurochem ., 99, 850-860. in his lab. Langnaese K., Beesley P. W. and Gundelfinger E. D. (1997) Synaptic The neuroplastins, np65 and np55, are Ig superfamily adhesion membrane glycoproteins gp65 and gp55 are new members of the molecules that comprise 3 and 2 Ig domains respectively, a single immunoglobulin superfamily. J Biol Chem., 272, 821-827. transmembrane domain and a short intracellular domain. Np65, Smalla K. H., Matthies H., Langnase K., Shabir S., Bockers T. M., but not np55 exhibits homophilic adhesion. The neuroplastins have Wyneken U., Staak S., Krug M., Beesley P. W. and Gundelfinger E. D. been shown to play important roles in activity dependent synaptic (2000) The synaptic glycoprotein neuroplastin is involved in long-term plasticity. The level of np65 associated with the post synaptic potentiation at hippocampal CA1 synapses. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA., apparatus and with the post synaptic density is increased in kainate 97, 4327-4332. seizured animals and in hippocampal neurones in response to long term potentiation (LTP). Antibodies specific for the neuroplastins and Figure: Co-localisation recombinant neuroplastin peptides block LTP by a signalling pathway of neuroplastin 65 that activates p38MAPkinase resulting in the down regulation of (green) and the post GluR1 receptors at the cell surface. synaptic density marker PSD95 (red) in the post His current work is focussed on: 1. Development of a neuroplastin synaptic structures of knockout mouse to investigate the functions of these molecules in hippocampal neurones more detail; 2. Characterisation of neuroplastin binding interactions transfected with eGFP and their functional significance. tagged np65. Other key interests focus on establishing the mechanisms by which β amyloid peptide oligomers trigger early synaptic dysfunction leading to onset of Alzhiemer’s disease and the role of dystrophin and dystrophin related molecules on synaptic function.

5 Chen, P.E., Geballe, M.T., Katz, E., Erreger, K., Livesey, M.R., O'toole, K.K., Le, P., Lee, C.J., Snyder, J.P., Traynelis, S.F., Wyllie, D.J.A. Modulation of glycine potency in rat recombinant NMDA receptors containing chimeric NR2A/2D subunits expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes (2008) Journal of Physiology, 586 (1), pp. 227-245. Chen, P.E., Errington, M.L., Kneussel, M., Chen, G., Annala, A.J., Rudhard, Y.H., Rast, G.F., Specht, C.G., Tigaret, C.M., Nassar, M.A., Morris, R.G.M., Bliss, T.V.P., Schoepfer, R. Behavioral deficits and subregion-specific suppression of LTP in mice expressing a population of mutant NMDA receptors throughout the hippocampus (2009) Learning and Memory, 16 (10), pp. 635-644.

Dr Philip Chen School of Biological Sciences [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443386

Research The majority of ‘fast’ excitatory neurotransmission within the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) is mediated by the neurotransmitter glutamate. Glutamate acts on a number of ligand gated cation selective channels often referred to as 'ionotropic' receptors. One subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptor is the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and NMDARs play a number of roles in normal (learning and memory) and abnormal CNS processes (stroke and neuronal cell death). The laboratory is currently studying the molecular pharmacology of a number of novel agonists at Professor George Dickson NMDARs using a combination of molecular and functional methods. The laboratory is also investigating the role played by glutamate School of Biological Sciences receptors in motor neurone disease and is examining potential [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443545 therapeutic strategies against motor neurone degeneration. Research We use a variety of heterologous and native expression systems to George Dickson is Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at Royal study glutamate receptor function (Xenopus oocytes, mammalian Holloway – University of London (RHUL). He has spent most of his cell lines, primary neuronal cultures). In our work, we use a variety career studying neuromuscular disease and muscle cell biology, of molecular techniques and electrophysiological recording methods including the first cloning of an intact Duchenne muscular dystrophy (two-electrode voltage clamp, extracellular recording). (DMD) gene, the discovery of the role of cell adhesion molecules in Biography muscle stem cell fusion, the first identification of utrophin, and the Dr Chen completed his PhD in 2000 at UCL in the Wellcome first description of exon skipping in DMD. He is a platform leader in Laboratory for Molecular Pharmacology under the supervision of the EU Clinigene Network of Excellence, a member of the UK MDEX, Prof Ralf Schoepfer. He then moved to the University of Edinburgh to a past President of the European Society of Gene & Cell Therapy and a work with Prof David Wyllie and during this period was appointed to member of the European Medicine Agency Committee for Advanced a temporary lectureship in Neuroscience. In 2008, he moved to Royal Therapies. Field of specialisation include, neuromuscular & infectious Holloway as a Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences. disease studies, muscular dystrophy and atrophy, and development of viral, non-viral and oligonucleotide gene therapies. Present research Selected Publications includes: (i) Muscle fibre and stem cell biology; (ii) gene therapy Chen, P.E., Geballe, M.T., Stansfeld, P.J., Johnston, A.R., Yuan, H., Jacob, for DMD; (iii) Motor function behavioural analyses; (iv) Antisense A.L., Snyder, J.P., Traynelis, S.F., Wyllie, D.J.A. Structural features of the oligonucleotide and myostatin inhibition therapies for DMD; (v) Direct glutamate binding site in recombinant NR1/NR2A N-methyl-D-aspartate genome correction using endonuclease-enhanced gene targeting. receptors determined by site-directed mutagenesis and molecular Biography modelling (2005) Molecular Pharmacology, 67 (5), pp. 1470-1484. Before joining Royal Holloway as Chair of Molecular Biology in 1995, Chen, P.E., Wyllie, D.J.A. Pharmacological insights obtained from Professor Dickson was a senior Lecturer at Guys Hospital Medical structure-function studies of ionotropic glutamate receptors (2006) School ( Department of Experimental Pathology), a lecturer and Lister- British Journal of Pharmacology, 147 (8), pp. 839-853. Wolfson Fellow at the Institute of Neurology (Dept of Neurochemistry, UCL), and Royal Society Overseas Fellow at the University of Marseille. Frizelle, P.A., Chen, P.E., Wyllie, D.J.A. Equilibrium constants His PhD is from UCL and his BSc from Strathclyde University. for (R)-[(S)-1-(4-bromo-phenyl)-ethylamino]-(2,3-dioxo-1,2,3,4- tetrahydroquinoxalin-5-yl)-methyl-phosphonic acid (NVP-AAM077) Selected Publications acting at recombinant NR1/NR2A and NR1/NR2B N-methyl-D- McColl BW, McGregor AL, Wong A, Harris JD, Amalfitano A, Magnoni aspartate receptors: Implications for studies of synaptic transmission S, Baker AH, Dickson G, Horsburgh K. APOE epsilon3 gene transfer (2006) Molecular Pharmacology, 70 (3), pp. 1022-1032. attenuates brain damage after experimental stroke. J Cereb Blood Wrighton, D.C., Baker, E.J., Chen, P.E., Wyllie, D.J.A. Mg2+ and Flow Metab. 2007 Mar;27(3):477-87. memantine block of rat recombinant NMDA receptors containing chimeric NR2A/2D subunits expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes (2008) Journal of Physiology, 586 (1), pp. 211-225.

6 Trollet C, Anvar SY, Venema A, Hargreaves IP, Foster K, Vignaud A, between separate visual aspects of the scene such as how separate Ferry A, Negroni E, Hourde C, Baraibar MA, ‘t Hoen PA, Davies JE, visual modalities might be combined to form the complete percept, Rubinsztein DC, Heales SJ, Mouly V, van der Maarel SM, Butler-Browne the implications of the relative time course of neural response for G, Raz V, Dickson G. Molecular and phenotypic characterization of a the final visual percept, the problem of local sign – i.e. how position mouse model of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy reveals severe can be signalled by a population of neurons, and the possible role of muscular atrophy restricted to fast glycolytic fibres. Hum Mol Genet. feedback connections in conscious awareness. 2010 Jun 1;19(11):2191-207. I investigate these topics using computational modelling, Kang JK, Malerba A, Popplewell L, Foster K, Dickson G. Antisense- psychophysics, eye tracking and magnetic resonance imaging induced myostatin exon skipping leads to muscle hypertrophy in mice techniques. following octa-guanidine morpholino oligomer treatment. Mol Ther. 2011 Jan;19(1):159-64. Biography My undergraduate degree was in Mathematics and my PhD in the Malerba A, Sharp PS, Graham IR, Arechavala-Gomeza V, Foster K, Psychology Department at UCL with Prof. Alan Johnston was funded Muntoni F, Wells DJ, Dickson G. Chronic systemic therapy with low- through the Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences dose morpholino oligomers ameliorates the pathology and normalizes and Experimental Psychology (CoMPLEX) by the MRC. After my locomotor behavior in mdx mice. Mol Ther. 2011 Feb;19(2):345-54. PhD I went to the University of Sydney, Australia on a Royal Society Koo T, Malerba A, Athanasopoulos T, Trollet C, Boldrin L, Ferry A, International Fellowship working with Prof. Colin Clifford. I started Popplewell L, Foster H, Foster K, Dickson G. Delivery of AAV2/9- at Royal Holloway as a post-doctoral researcher on an EPSRC grant Microdystrophin Genes Incorporating Helix 1 of the Coiled-Coil Motif with Prof. Johannes Zanker and went on to a Leverhulme Early Career in the C-Terminal Domain of Dystrophin Improves Muscle Pathology Fellowship before gaining my permanent position. and Restores the Level of ⍺1-Syntrophin and ⍺-Dystrobrevin in Skeletal Muscles of mdx Mice. Hum Gene Ther. 2011 May 25. Selected Publications Cirak S, Arechavala-Gomeza V, Guglieri M, Feng L, Torelli S, Anthony K, Variation in the local motion statistics of real-life optic flow scenes Abbs S, Garralda ME, Bourke J, Wells DJ, Dickson G, Wood MJ, Wilton Durant, S. & Zanker, J. M. 2012 In : Neural Computation. 24, 7, p. SD, Straub V, Kole R, Shrewsbury SB, Sewry C, Morgan JE, Bushby K, 1781-1805.Manipulating the content of dynamic natural scenes to Muntoni F. Exon skipping and dystrophin restoration in patients with characterize response in human MT/MST Durant, S., Wall, M. B. & Duchenne muscular dystrophy after systemic phosphorodiamidate Zanker, J. M. 2011 In : Journal of Vision. 11 The movement of motion- morpholino oligomer treatment: an open-label, phase 2, dose- defined contours can bias perceived position escalation study. Lancet. 2011 Aug 13;378(9791):595-605. Durant, S. & Zanker, J. M. 2009 In : Biology Letters. 5, 2, p. 270-273. Combining direction and speed for the localisation of visual motion defined contours Durant, S. & Zanker, J. M. 2008 In : Vision Research. 48, 8, p. 1053-1060. Moving from spatially segregated to transparent motion: a modelling approach Durant, S., Donoso-Barrera, A., Tan, S. & Johnston, A. 22-Mar-2006 In : Biology Letters. 2, 1, p. 101-105 Temporal dependence of local motion induced shifts in perceived position Durant, S. & Johnston, A. Feb-2004 In : Vision Research. 44, 4, p. 357-366.

Dr Scott Glover Department of Psychology [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443719 Dr Szonya Durant Research Dr Scott Glover’s main research focus is on examining the processes Department of Psychology involved in motor control. In particular, he aims to understand how [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 276522 neural and cognitive processes impact actions. In one line of inquiry this involves comparing real and imagined movements; in another Research the aim is to understand how partners plan their strategy in joint My research interests are in the area of visual perception. I am interested movement tasks. These topics are examined using behavioural and in how a population of neurons codes for the overall perception of movement recording techniques, as well as TMS. He also studies the visual spatial position, motion and time. This involves the question of neural underpinnings of action using fMRI. the link between individual neural response and the final population response responsible for the percept, how visual information is coded in Another research goal is to elucidate the beneficial effects of music neuronal spike trains and in particular over the years I have investigated on cognition. This is studied using spatio-cognitive tasks and music, the role of local and global motion in optic flow in the context of along with questionnaires. The overarching aim is to disentangle the motion-defined boundaries and the pattern of optic flow produced properties of music that lead to cognitive enhancement. from forward motion in natural scenes. I have also been interested Biography in the mechanisms involved and the role of adaptation in neurons, i.e. the dynamics of adaptation of single units as part of a population Dr Scott Glover received his BSc from the University of Lethbridge in code and how the coding of the stimulus attributes of contrast and 1996. He obtained a PhD in psychology from the University of Alberta orientation depend upon spatial and temporal context, leading to in 2001. In 2001–2002 he was a visiting scholar in the lab of Prof. the attempt to provide a functional explanation of adaptation in the David Rosenbaum at Pennsylvania State University, and in 2002–2003 visual cortex. A further aspect of my research considers the interaction he was a visiting scholar in the lab of Dr. Matthew Rushworth at the University of Oxford. He came to Royal Holloway in 2003.

7 Selected Publications Hammett, S. T., Wall, M.B., Edwards, T. & Smith, A.T. 2010. Dietary Glover, S., & Dixon, P. (submitted). Context effects on real and supplementation of creatine monohydrate reduces the fMRI BOLD imagined actions: Evidence for a common representation hypothesis. response. Neuroscience Letters, 479, 201-205. Submitted to Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception Hammett, S.T. et al., 2007. Perceptual distortions of speed at low and Performance. luminance: Evidence inconsistent with a Bayesian account of speed Aheadi, A., & Glover, S. (submitted). Being predictable in joint encoding. Vision Research, 47, 564-568. action: Strategic planning in a cooperative passing and placing task. Hammett, S.T. et al., 2005. A ratio model of perceived speed in the Submitted to Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception human visual system. Proceedings of The Royal Society, 272, 2351-6. and Performance. Hammett, S.T., Thompson, P.G. & Bedingham, S., 2000. The Glover, S., Wall, M. B., & Smith, A. T. (2012). Distinct cortical networks dynamics of velocity adaptation in human vision. Current Biology, support the planning and online control of reaching and grasping in 10(18), 1123-1126. humans. European Journal of Neuroscience, 35, 905–915. Snowden, R.J. & Hammett, S.T., 1992. Subtractive and Divisive Aheadi, A., Dixon, P., & Glover, S. (2010). A limiting feature of the Adaptation in the Human Visual System. Nature, 355(6357), 248-250. Mozart Effect: Listening improves spatial cognition in musicians but not nonmusicians. Psychology of Music, 38, 107–117. Dr Jonas Larsson Glover, S., Miall, R. C., & Rushworth, M. F. (2005). Parietal rTMS disrupts the initiation but not the execution of online adjustments in Department of Psychology grasping. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 124–136. [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 414061

Glover, S. (2004). Separate visual representations in the planning and Research control of action. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 27, 3–26. Research in my lab is focused on the neuronal mechanisms of human visual perception, studied by a combination of physiological Dr Steve Hammett measurements (principally functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI) and behavioural measurements (psychophysics). Department of Psychology [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443702 One of the long-term goals of my research is to understand the mechanisms underlying our ability to recognize and perceive objects Research regardless of viewing conditions, and how this relates to the way The effect of creatine monohydrate on neurovascular coupling and shapes are represented in cortical neuronal networks. The mechanisms cognitive performance. We (Hammett et al, 2010) have previously underlying this ability are likely to involve neuronal processing in shown that acute administration of creatine monohydrate significantly 'intermediate' visual areas between the early representations in the reduces the fMRI Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) response lateral geniculate nucleus and primary visual cortex, and the high- whilst simultaneously increasing memory performance by 29%. level representations in inferotemporal cortex (or its equivalent in the Current work is focussing upon how creatine changes cerebral human brain). metabolite levels and low level perceptual performance in an effort Part of my research involves trying to identify and characterise these to better characterise its mode of action. Potential avenues for future areas in the human visual cortex. Ultimately, by characterising the research are directed toward creatine's potential therapeutic value in response properties of neuronal populations in different visual areas, it Alzheimer's Disease. Techniques involved in this project include fMRI, will be possible to understand the processing mechanisms carried out MRS and psychophysics. by different areas and populations in the context of visual perception The effect of scene parameters on driving performance and object recognition. We (Hammett et al 2007; Pritchard & Hammett, 2012) have previously found that perceived speed is significantly increased at low luminance I am currently working on a three year Wellcome-funded project to levels and that driving speed is significantly reduced at low luminance. study centre-surround mechanisms in human visual cortical areas, Current research is focussed upon developing a biologically plausible measured with fMRI and computational modelling of population model of perceived speed with the aim to better inform the design of receptive field properties. driving simulators and driving safety. I am also involved in a series of projects focused on understanding The computation of perceived speed in the human visual system mechanisms of adaptation measured by fMRI and what such This is a long-term project aimed at developing a biologically plausible measurements can reveal about the underlying physiology of the cortex. computational model of how visual object speed is computed and In collaboration with Steve Hammett and Andy Smith I am also working represented in the human visual system (see, e.g., Hammett et al, on a series of projects investigating mechanisms of visual motion 2000, 2005, 2007). The project combines psychophysical, imaging and processing in the human brain studied by psychophysics and fMRI. modelling techniques. The analysis of anatomical and functional MRI data requires specialised Biography software and analysis tools. Development of such “computational Upon completion of his PhD in visual psychophysics at Cardiff neuroimaging” tools is an important component of my research, University, Steve Hammett took up post-doc positions at the University and most of this software is in the public domain. In particular I have of Bristol and Cardiff University prior to taking up a Wellcome Trust developed a comprehensive set of tools for extraction and analysis of European Prize Fellowship at the Universite Rene Descartes (Paris cortical surfaces from MRI image (SurfRelax). V). He took up his first lectureship at the University of Glasgow and Biography moved to Royal Holloway University of London following a lectureship in the Department of Optometry at City University, London. I received my PhD in Neuroscience from the Karolinska Institute in 2001. My PhD project focused on neuroimaging of mid-level visual Selected Publications processes in the human brain. I then did a postdoc with Prof David Pritchard, S.J. & Hammett, S.T., 2012. The effect of luminance on Heeger from 2002-2006, first at Stanford University, then at the simulated driving speed. Vision Research, 52, 54-60.

8 Center for Neural Science, New York University. My postdoctoral in speech output, and the perception of emotional authenticity in research investigated mechanisms underlying second-order visual laughter. In the latter functional MRI study, I found strongly differential processing, attention, and visual cortical organisation. neural responses during passive listening to genuine and posed laughter (Figure 1), where the posed samples generated significantly stronger Selected Publications activation in a medial prefrontal brain region implicated in mentalizing processes, i.e. the attribution of emotional and mental states to others. Larsson J, Smith AT. (2012) fMRI repetition suppression: neuronal Further, listeners who scored more highly in a post-scan test of laughter adaptation or stimulus expectation? Cerebral Cortex 22:567-576. classification (as ‘real’ vs. ‘posed’) were those who had shown stronger Larsson J, Heeger DJ, Landy MS. (2010) Orientation selectivity of ‘mirror’ responses in premotor cortex during the passive phase. It motion-boundary responses in human visual cortex. Journal of is argued that ‘mirror’ systems – brain regions that show common Neurophysiology 104:2940-50. activation during the observation and execution of actions – are key to our ability to understand others’ actions. My recent finding lends support Liu TS, Larsson J, Carrasco M (2007). Feature-based attention to this hypothesis, and raises questions about how such responses may modulates orientation selective responses in human visual cortex. or may not extend to the understanding of linguistic signals. Looking Neuron 55:313–323. forward, the overall aim of my research programme is to assert the Montaser-Kouhsari L, Landy MS, Heeger DJ, Larsson J (2007) voice as a central element of the social neuroscience literature, and Orientation-selective adaptation to illusory contours in human visual to explore how the use and understanding of vocal and facial signals cortex. J Neurosci. 27(9):2186-95. during communication varies across individuals, age groups and special populations. Larsson J, Heeger DJ (2006) Two retinotopic visual areas in human lateral occipital cortex. J Neurosci. 26(51):13128-42. Biography Larsson J, Landy MS, Heeger DJ (2006). Orientation-selective I graduated from Clare College, Cambridge in 2003 with a BA(Hons) in adaptation to first- and second-order patterns in human visual cortex. Natural Sciences, specializing in Experimental Psychology. Following a J Neurophysiol. 95:862-881. research assistantship in a psycholinguistics laboratory at the University of Cambridge, I completed a PhD in Human Communication Science at University College London, using behavioural studies to investigate the perceptual learning of cochlear implant simulations and the cognitive correlates of individual differences in speech perception. From 2008-2012, I was a postdoctoral research associate in the Speech Communication Group at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, where I ran functional neuroimaging studies of speech and voice processing - this period included a visiting position at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany in 2011. I moved to Royal Holloway in September 2012 to take up a Lectureship in Psychology.

Selected Publications MCGETTIGAN, C., Scott, S.K. (2012) Cortical asymmetries in speech perception: what’s wrong, what’s right and what’s left? Trends in Dr Carolyn McGettigan Cognitive Sciences 16, 269-276. Department of Psychology MCGETTIGAN, C., Faulkner, A., Altarelli, I., Obleser, J., Baverstock, [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443529 H., Scott, S.K. (2012a). Speech comprehension aided by multiple modalities: behavioural and neural interactions. Neuropsychologia 50, Research 762-776. My research concerns the cognitive neuroscience of human vocal MCGETTIGAN, C., Evans, S., Rosen, S., Agnew, Z.K., Shah, P., Scott, communication. I have used a range of methods - behavioural testing, S.K. (2012b). An application of univariate and multivariate approaches functional MRI, MEG, and TMS – to interrogate the systems engaged in fMRI to quantifying the hemispheric lateralization of acoustic and in the perception and production of speech, voices and emotional linguistic processes. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 24, 636-652. vocalizations. My work on speech perception has focused on the processes supporting the extraction of intelligible percepts from MCGETTIGAN, C., Warren, J.E., Eisner, F., Marshall, C.R., degraded stimuli such as cochlear implant simulations, and in particular Shanmugalingam, P., Scott, S.K. (2011). Neural correlates of sublexical identifying the cognitive and neural correlates of individual differences in processing in phonological working memory. Journal of Cognitive speech comprehension and learning (McGettigan, Faulkner et al., 2012, Neuroscience 23, 961-977. Eisner, McGettigan et al., 2010). In this work, I have addressed some of MCGETTIGAN, C., Agnew, Z.K., Scott, S.K. (2010) Are articulatory the major theoretical issues in speech neuroscience, including the role commands automatically and involuntarily activated during speech of motor cortex in speech processing (Scott, McGettigan & Eisner, 2009; perception? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the McGettigan, Agnew & Scott, 2010; McGettigan et al., 2011; Agnew, United States of America 107, E42-E42. McGettigan & Scott, 2011), and the debate on hemispheric asymmetries in speech perception (McGettigan & Scott, 2012; McGettigan, Evans Scott, S.K., MCGETTIGAN, C., Eisner, F. (2009) A little more et al., 2012). Currently, I am exploring the voice as an important social conversation, a little less action - candidate roles for motor cortex in signal, with recent work addressing the responses to talker gaze direction speech perception. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 295-302. in face-to-face speech perception, the neural control of vocal disguise

9 Biography Jenny studied at St John’s College, Cambridge, for her undergraduate degree. She read Natural Sciences (1990–1993), specialising in Biochemistry in the final year, and graduated with a 2i. From there Jenny obtained a position as a Research Assistant, working with Dr Andy Copp at the Institute of Child Health, University College London from August 1993. After six months as an RA, Jenny registered for a PhD, and studied for this on a part-time basis while also working as an RA. Jenny completed her PhD in March 1999, but continued in the same lab for a further three years as a postdoctoral research assistant. In April 2002 Jenny moved to the MRC Mammalian Genetics Unit at Harwell, where she was employed as a postdoctoral research fellow, but working largely independently. Jenny obtained an MRC Career Development Dr Jenny Murdoch Award to run her own research project and, after taking a nine-month break to have her second child, took up that award in March 2005. School of Biological Sciences In November 2009 Jenny moved to Royal Holloway, to take up a post [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 276289 as a Senior Lecturer in Neurobiology. She lives in Egham with her Research three children. Jenny Murdoch’s research interests are focused on the early Selected Publications development of the nervous system. In particular, she is interested in the formation and patterning of the neural tube, the embryonic Paudyal, A., Damrau, C., Patterson, V.L., Ermakov, A., Formstone, C., precursor of the brain and spinal cord. Jenny uses the mouse as a model Lalanne, Z., Wells, S., Lu, X., Norris, D.P., Dean, C.H., Henderson, D.J., organism for the elucidation of the genetic, molecular and cellular Murdoch, J.N. (2010) The novel mouse mutant, chuzhoi, has disruption mechanisms that contribute to nervous system development. She uses of Ptk7 protein and exhibits defects in neural tube, heart and lung a forward genetic approach to identify the genes that are involved in development and abnormal planar cell polarity in the ear. BMC neural development. She studies mouse mutants that exhibit defects Developmental Biology 10:87. in neural development, such as spina bifida. These mutants can arise Murdoch, J.N. and Copp, A.J.(2010) The relationship between Sonic spontaneously, or from chemical mutagenesis experiments. hedgehog signalling, cilia and neural tube defects. Birth Defects Jenny studies the tissue and cellular defects in the mutant Research (Part A) 88:633-52. embryos, by collecting and examining embryos at early stages Patterson, V.L., Damrau, C., Paudyal, A., Reeve, B., Grimes, D.T., in embryogenesis. She examines embryos microscopically for Stewart, M.E., Williams, D.J., Siggers, P., Greenfield, A. and Murdoch, morphological or structural defects, as well as searching for changes J.N. (2009) Mouse hitchhiker mutants have spina bifida, dorso-ventral in protein localisation, or defects in cell proliferation or cell death. patterning defects and polydactyly: Identification of Tulp3 as a novel Jenny conducts genetic epistasis experiments, by intercrossing mutant negative regulator of the Sonic hedgehog pathway. Human Molecular lines. She also identifies the mutant gene using a positional cloning Genetics 18:1719-1739. approach, by first generating a chromosomal localisation of the mutant gene by genetic mapping, and then by analysis of candidate Curtin, J.A., Quint, E., Tsipouri, V., Arkell, R.M., Cattanach, B., Copp, genes within the critical interval. This involves molecular techniques A.J., Henderson, D.J., Spurr, N., Stanier, P., Fisher, E.M., Nolan, P.M., such as PCR and sequencing. Steel, K.P., Brown, S.D.M., Gray, I.C. and Murdoch, J.N. (2003) Mutation of Celsr1 disrupts planar polarity of inner ear hair cells and causes severe Once the mutant gene has been identified, Jenny tries to ascertain the neural tube defects in the mouse. Current Biology 13:1-20. molecular function of the gene, for example by examining gene and protein expression using techniques such as in situ hybridisation and Murdoch, J.N., Henderson,D.J., Doudney, K., Gaston-Massuet, C., immnuofluoresence for spatial analysis, and qRT-PCR and Western Phillips, H.M., Paternotte, C., Arkell, R., Stanier, P. and Copp, A.J. blotting for quantitative comparisons. (2003) Disruption of scribble (Scrb1) causes severe neural tube defects in the circletail mouse. Human Molecular Genetics 12:87-98. Recent functional analysis of proteins has involved searching for interacting protein partners by yeast 2-hybrid, and confirmation of Murdoch, J.N., Doudney, K., Paternotte, C., Copp, A.J. and Stanier, P. interactions by co-immunoprecipitation experiments. Functional (2001) Severe neural tube defects in the loop-tail mouse result from analysis has involved cell culture approaches, such as luciferase mutation of Lpp1, a novel gene involved in floor plate specification. reporter assays to determine effects on particular signalling pathways. Human Molecular Genetics 10:2593-2601. Thus Jenny uses a variety of molecular techniques to examine embryonic development. Murdoch, J.N., Rachel, R.A., Shah, S., Beerman, F., Stanier, P., Mason, C.A. and Copp, A.J. (2001) Circletail, a new mouse mutant with severe neural tube defects: chromosomal localization and interaction with the ßßß mutation. Genomics 78:55-63.

10 Selected Publications Gill RJ, Ramos-Rodríguez O & NE Raine (2012) Combined pesticide exposure severely impacts individual- and colony-level traits in bees. Nature: doi:10.1038/nature11585. Lihoreau M‡, Raine NE‡, Reynolds AM, Stelzer RJ, Lim KA, Smith AD, Osborne JL & L Chittka (2012) Radar tracking and motion-sensitive cameras on flowers reveal the development of pollinator multi- destination routes over large spatial scales. PLoS Biology 10: e1001392. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001392. Raine NE & L Chittka (2012) No trade-off between learning speed and associative flexibility in bumblebees: a reversal learning test with multiple colonies. PLoS One 7: e45096. doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0045096. Dr Nigel Raine Lihoreau M, Chittka L, Le Comber SC & NE Raine (2012) Bees do not School of Biological Sciences use nearest-neighbour rules for optimization of multi-location routes. [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443539 Biology Letters 8: 13-16. Research Lihoreau M, Chittka L & NE Raine (2010) Travel optimization by Nigel Raine is Reader in Animal Behaviour at Royal Holloway, foraging bumblebees through re-adjustments of traplines after University of London. His research focuses on how the cognitive discovery of new flower patches. American Naturalist 176: 744-757. abilities of animals are adapted to their environment. The fact that Raine NE & L Chittka (2008) The correlation of learning speed and animals in a population can differ widely in their cognitive capacities natural foraging success in bumble-bees. Proceedings of the Royal despite apparently operating in the same environment has lead him Society B 275: 803-808. to examine the costs and benefits of this behavioural variation. He uses bees as a model system because they solve complex cognitive ‡ indicates that the first two authors contributed equally to this work. tasks everyday when making foraging decisions about which flowers to visit and navigation decisions to work out the best routes to follow when flying between flower patches and back to their nest. Using bumblebees learning and memory can be studied under controlled conditions in the laboratory, before testing the adaptive significance of variation in these traits by assessing the behaviour of the same colonies in the field. Dr Raine also conducts research investigating the effects of field-realistic pesticide exposure on bee behaviour, and how this could affect their performance as essential pollinators of crops and wild flowers. These research questions use a number of innovative techniques including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and harmonic radar tracking to monitor the foraging behaviour of bees, and cutting edge micro-CT scanning to examine changes in brain structure. Dr Raine has ongoing collaborations with scientists from Imperial College, the Natural History Museum, Queen Mary, University of London, Rothamsted Research, UCL, University of Dundee, University of Edinburgh, University of Newcastle and University of Dr Narender Ramnani St. Andrews and his work has been supported by the Biotechnology Department of Psychology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Department for [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 434 455 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Engineering and Physical Research Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Scottish Government and the Wellcome Trust. The work of the lab focuses on the neural processes that underlie the control of movement, learning and decision-making in the human Biography brain. Our work tests ideas based on frameworks that integrate Nigel studied Biological Sciences at Magdalen College, Oxford behaviour, neurobiology and theory. The methods used include (1994-1997) and completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and behavioural methods that working with Professor Graham Stone (1997-2001). He worked as systematically investigate learning and decision-making. Our current a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Francis Ratnieks at the work is focused on the role of the cortico-cerebellar system in the University of Sheffield (2002-2003) and Professor Lars Chittka at acquisition of cognitive and motor skills, the anatomy and evolution Queen Mary, University of London (2004-2009). Nigel joined Royal of the human brain, and on circuitry that supports social cognition. A Holloway as a Senior Lecturer in 2009, and became Reader in Animal number of other projects on other themes have also been completed. Behaviour in 2012.

11 Most of funding for this work comes from substantial project grants from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and we have also been supported by the Royal Society, by studentships from the Royal Holloway-St Georges Strategic Alliance and from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). It also benefits from UK and international interdisciplinary collaborations with colleagues at Emory University (Atlanta, USA), UCL and the University of Oxford. We also have an ongoing collaboration with the England and Wales Cricket Board to study cognitive and motor skills in sport. This work has been supported by several research staff and PhD students.

Professor Kathy Rastle Department of Psychology [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443716

Research My research aims to uncover the nature of the representations and computations that underlie aspects of human cognition, within a Figure: Evidence for learning-related plasticity in the human Cognitive Neuroscience perspective that includes a combination of cerebellar cortex [2] behavioural, computational, speech physiological, and neuroscientific (EEG/ERP and fMRI) methods. Within the broad area of human cognition, my primary interest lies in understanding fundamental Biography aspects of the normal language system (e.g. reading, speech After completing a degree in Psychology from Birkbeck College, perception, speech production) and how they become impaired as the University of London, and a Masters degree in Neuroscience from result of brain damage or abnormal development. One highlight of my the Institute of Psychiatry (London), Dr Ramnani completed a PhD research career has been the development of a leading computational in Behavioural Neuroscience at UCL. His postdoctoral training in theory of skilled reading that has helped us to uncover the reading neuroimaging took place first at the Wellcome Trust Centre for network in the brain. My more recent research has been focused on Neuroimaging (Institute of Neurology, UCL) where he worked with describing the neuro-cognitive mechanisms that underpin our ability Prof. Dick Passingham. He then worked with Prof. Paul Matthews at to learn new words and to extract generalisations from these learning the Centre for fMRI of the Brain (FMRIB, University of Oxford), and episodes. I am particularly excited at present about the role that sleep- with Prof. Chris Miall at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy related consolidation processes may play in these abilities. and Genetics (formerly University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford) Dr Ramnani was appointed to a Lectureship in the Psychology Biography Department at Royal Holloway in 2004, and has been Reader in I trained in the Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Cognitive Neuroscience since 2005. Sydney, where I developed one of the leading computational theories of reading, which is now informing efforts to uncover the neural Selected Publications bases of reading and reading impairment. From there, I accepted a Balsters JH, Whelan C, Roberston I and Ramnani N (2012), postdoctoral research position in the Centre for Speech, Language, “Cerebellum and cognition: Evidence for the encoding of higher-order and the Brain at the University of Cambridge, where I began work to rules”, Cerebral Cortex (in press). understand how the structure of a language impacts upon very early recognition processes. I came to Royal Holloway in 2002 and become Balsters JH and Ramnani N (2011), “Cerebellar plasticity and the Professor of Cognitive Psychology in 2006. automation of first-order rules”, Journal of Neuroscience, 31(6):2305-12. Selected Publications Jill X. O’Reilly, Christian F. Beckmann, Valentina Tomassini, Narender Ramnani and Heidi Johansen-Berg (2010). “Distinct and overlapping Dufau, S. et al. (2011). Smart phone, smart science: How the use of functional zones in the cerebellum defined by resting state functional smartphones can revolutionize research in cognitive science. PlosOne, connectivity”, Cerebral Cortex, 20:953-65. 9. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal. pone.0024974 Ramnani N (2006) “The Primate Cortico-Cerebellar System”, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7(7):511-22 Lavric, A., Elchlepp, H., & Rastle, K. (2012). Tracking morphological decomposition using brain potentials. Journal of Experimental Ramnani N and Owen AM (2004), “The Anterior Prefrontal Cortex: Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 38, 811-816 What can functional imaging tell us about function?” Nature Reviews: Neuroscience 5, 184-194 Tamminen, J., Davis, MH, Merkx, M., & Rastle, K. (2012). The role of memory consolidation in the generalisation of new linguistic Ramnani N and Miall RC, (2004) “A system in the human brain for information. Cognition, 125, 107-112 predicting the actions of others”, Nature Neuroscience, 2004, 7(1): 85-90. Yuen, I., Davis, M.H., Brysbaert, M., & Rastle, K. (2010). Activation of articulatory information in speech perception. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 592-597. Gold, B. & Rastle, K. (2007). Neural correlates of morphological decomposition during visual word recognition. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 1983-1993.

12 Selected Publications De Brito, S.A., Viding, E., Sebastian, C.L., Kelly, P.A., Mechelli, A., Maris, H., McCrory, E.J. (in press). Temporal and orbitofrontal grey matter reduction in psychiatrically healthy maltreated children. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Viding, E.,* Sebastian, C.L.,* Dadds, M.R., Lockwood, P.L., Cecil, C.A.M., De Brito, S.A., McCrory, E.J.P. (in press). Amygdala response to pre-attentive masked fear is associated with callous-unemotional traits in children with conduct problems. The American Journal of Psychiatry. * Equal contribution. Sebastian, C.L., McCrory, E.J.P., Cecil, C.A.M., Lockwood, P.L., De Brito, S.A., Fontaine, N.M.G., Viding, E. (in press). Neural responses to affective and cognitive Theory of Mind in children with conduct Dr Catherine Sebastian problems and varying levels of callous-unemotional traits. Archives of Department of Psychology General Psychiatry. [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 276599 Sebastian, C.L., Fontaine, N.M.G., Bird, G., Blakemore, S.-J., De Brito, Research S.A., McCrory, E.J.P., Viding, E. (2012). Neural processing associated with cognitive and affective Theory of Mind in adolescents and adults. I am interested in brain and behaviour development in human Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7, 53-63. adolescence; in particular the development of emotion processing and regulation, and of social cognition. I have worked with typical McCrory, E.J. *, De Brito, S.A. *, Sebastian, C.L., Mechelli, A., Bird, adolescents, those with conditions such as autism spectrum disorder G., Kelly, P., Viding, E. (2011). Heightened neural reactivity to threat in and conduct disorder, and those who have experienced early child victims of family violence. Current Biology, 21(23), R947-R948. maltreatment. *Equal contribution. I have conducted research on the following topics: Sebastian, C.L., Tan, G.C.Y., Roiser, J.P., Viding, E., Dumontheil, I., Blakemore, S.-J. (2011). Developmental influences on the neural bases • Behavioural and neural responses to social rejection in typical of responses to social rejection: implications of social neuroscience for adolescents and in those with autism spectrum conditions. education. NeuroImage, 57(3), 686-694. • Theory of Mind and empathy processing in typical adolescents and Sebastian, C., Blakemore, S.-J., Charman, T. (2009). Reactions to in those with conduct problems. ostracism in adolescents with autism spectrum conditions. Journal of • Emotion processing and regulation in adolescents with Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(8), 1122-1130. conduct problems and adolescents who have experienced early maltreatment. • Structural neural correlates of conduct problems and early maltreatment. I have used a combination of the following research techniques: • Self- , parent- and teacher-report on psychometric questionnaires. • Behavioural and cognitive testing within and outside the MRI scanner. • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate brain function during cognitive task performance. • Voxel based morphometry (VBM) for structural MRI to investigate differences in brain structure between experimental groups (e.g. adolescents with conduct problems vs. typically developing controls). Professor Andy Smith • I am also learning to analyse Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) data in order to explore the structural integrity of white matter tracts Department of Psychology connecting different brain regions of interest. [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443717

Biography Research I studied for a BA in Experimental Psychology and an MSc in The early part of Prof Smith’s career was devoted to visual Neuroscience at Balliol College, Oxford, followed by a PhD at UCL’s psychophysics. His main contribution during that period concerned Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, which I received in 2009. I was the mechanisms employed by the human brain for detecting motion co-supervised by Prof. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and Prof. Essi Viding, within the retinal image. Two themes emerge from this work. The first and investigated behavioural and neural responses to social rejection concerns the speed of motion, which was largely neglected in early in typically developing adolescents and in adolescents with autism (1980s) computational models of motion detection that focussed on spectrum conditions. I then completed a postdoc at UCL’s Clinical, direction of motion. He conducted numerous studies culminating in Educational and Health Psychology Department with Prof. Essi Viding a highly cited ratio model of the extraction of speed (Vision Research and Dr Eamon McCrory, investigating social and emotional processing 1994). The second theme concerns second-order motion (motion in adolescents with conduct problems. I joined Royal Holloway as a defined in terms of temporal changes in contrast or texture). His Lecturer in 2012. work made key contributions to a now-large body of evidence for

13 separate detection mechanisms for the two types of motion. In recent years, Smith has conducted mainly fMRI research. A central focus has remained detection of image motion. An early study (J Neurosci 1998) on second-order motion has been cited over 250 times. He provided the first direct evidence that human cortical areas MST contains neural sub-populations tuned to different optic flow components. His group recently discovered three visual areas which, unlike MST, respond to optic flow only if it is compatible with egomotion (Curr Biol 2008). An important stream of his fMRI work involves sub-cortical brain regions, including the pulvinar, an under-researched sub-cortical structure that appears to link many different cortical regions. This work produced the first evidence of a map of visual space in the human pulvinar (J Neurophysiol 2007). Smith has also contributed to fMRI methodology, developing a method for estimating receptive field sizes in human cortex (Cereb Cortex 2001) that has been taken up and refined by others, documenting statistical effects of low-frequency noise in fMRI Dr Manos Tsakiris data (NeuroImage 2007) and documenting confounding effects of Department of Psychology response amplitude on MVPA (pattern classification) performance [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 276266 (Neuroimage 2011). He remains interested in optic flow and self motion. Current projects also include fMRI studies of visual-vestibular Research interactions and their role in monitoring and guiding self-motion. Since Manos Tsakiris is leading the Laboratory of Action and Body (LAB), at natural vestibular stimulation is not practicable in an MRI scanner, the Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London. artificial (galvanic) activation of the vestibular system is employed. The main focus of our research is to empirically identify the basic neurocognitive principles governing the sense of self. In particular we focus on how the interaction between sensory-motor processing and social cognition give rise to self-awareness and modulate social interactions. Our research is inter-disciplinary, based on neuroscientific and psychological experimental paradigms as well as on neurophilosophical approaches to selfhood, and uses a wide range of methods, from psychometrics and psychophysics to functional neuroimaging.

Biography Manos Tsakiris studied psychology and philosophy before completing his PhD in psychology and cognitive neurosciences at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL. He is currently Professor Andy Smith, and researchers in his lab Dr Jaclyn Reader in Neuropsychology at the Department of Psychology, Royal Billington and Dr Michele Furlan. Holloway, University of London. His research is funded by ESRC (UK), Volkswagen Foundation (Germany) and by a Starting Investigator Biography Grant from the European Research Council. Prof Smith has been a professor of psychology at Royal Holloway in Selected Publications 1994. Prior to that he spent 11 years at Cardiff University, as a lecturer Tajadura-Jiménez, A., Väljamäe, A., Toshima, I., Kimura, T., Tsakiris, and then senior lecturer, and he is a graduate of Durham University. M., Kitagawa, N. (2012). Action sounds recalibrate perceived tactile He has over 30 years of experience in vision research and related distance. Current Biology, 22(13), R516. topics. He has published about 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals (including top journals such as Nature and Current Biology) and his Tsakiris M, Tajadura-Jiménez A & Costantini M (2011). Just a heartbeat work has attracted over 3000 citations. His h-index is 33. away from one’s body: interoceptive sensitivity predicts malleability of body representations. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B, Biological Selected Publications Sciences. 278(1717):2470-6. c Wall, M.B. and Smith, A.T. The representation of egomotion in the human brain. Current Biology 2008, 18, 191-194. Tsakiris M, Longo MR & Haggard P (2010). Having a body versus moving your body: neural signatures of agency and body-ownership. Smith, A.T., Cotton, P.L., Bruno, A. and Moutsiana. C. Dissociating Neuropsychologia, 48(9):2740-2749 vision and visual attention in the human pulvinar. Journal of Neurophysiology 2009, 101, 917 – 925. Tsakiris M (2010). My body in the brain: a neurocognitive model of body-ownership. Neuropsychologia, 48(3):703-12. Cardin, V. and Smith, A.T. Sensitivity of human visual and vestibular cortical regions to egomotion-compatible visual stimulation. Cerebral Tsakiris M, Costantini M & Haggard P (2008). The role of the right Cortex 2010, 20, 1964-1973. temporoparietal junction in maintaining a coherent sense of one’s body. Neuropsychologia, 46, 3014-8. Smith, A.T., Kosillo, P. and Williams, A.L. The confounding effect of response amplitude on MVPA performance measures. NeuroImage Tsakiris M, Hesse M, Boy C, Haggard P & Fink GR (2007) Neural 2011, 56, 525-530. correlates of body-ownership: a sensory network for bodily self- consciousness, Cerebral Cortex, 17, 2235-2244. Larsson, J. and Smith, A.T. fMRI repetition suppression: neuronal adaptation or stimulus expectation? Cerebral Cortex 2012, 22, 567-576. Smith, A.T., Wall, M.B. & Thilo, K.V. Vestibular inputs to human motion-sensitive visual cortex. Cerebral Cortex 2012, 22, 1068-1077.

14 McSorley, E., Haggard, P., & Walker, R. (2009). The spatial and temporal shape ofoculomotor inhibition. Vision Research, 49, 608-614. Walker, R., Deubel, H., Schneider, W. X., & Findlay, J. M. (1997). Effect of remote distractors on saccade programming: evidence for an extended fixation zone. Journal of Neurophysiology, 78(2), 1108-1119. Walker, R., & McSorley, E. (2006). The parallel programming of voluntary and reflexive saccades. Vision Research, 46, 2082-2093. Walker, R., Techawachirakul, P., & Haggard, P. (2009). Frontal eye field stimulation modulates the balance of salience between target and distractors. Brain Research, 1270, 54-63. Wall, M. B., Smith, A. T., & Walker, R. (2009).Functional imaging of the human superior colliculus: An optimised approach. NeuroImage, 47, Professor Robin Walker 1620–1627. Department of Psychology [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443518

Research Professor Robin Walker’s research is in the field of Cognitive Neuroscience and involves studies designed to further our understanding of how the brain transforms sensory inputs into a goal-directed motor outputs. Specifically, his research centers on the human eye-movement (saccadic) system and he uses a video-based eye-tracker (SR Research ‘Eyelink’ system) to perform behavioural studies with human volunteers. Professor Walker also used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional brain imaging (fMRI) to investigate the role of specific brain regions in the process of saccade target selection. He has have developed fMRI techniques to investigate a non-cortical brain region Professor John Wann (the superior colliculus) which is regarded as challenging due to its Department of Psychology location deep in the brain and the issue of physiological noise. [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 276177 The aim of this work is to further understanding of how the network of cortical and sub-cortical brain regions control the shifts of gaze Research and attention that are involved in the process of visual cognition. The Our group have just completed an EPSRC grant using neuro-imaging research also has an applied aspect and Professor Walker has been to understand the control of steering at a cortical level; and currently involved in a project to develop an aid to improve reading in people we are running a 3-year ESRC grant looking at perceptual errors in with age-related macular disease. This has enabled him to develop children’s road crossing; and participating in a 3-year FP7 Marie Curie an app for the iPad (called the MDReader) that was informed by an Network exploring optimal decisions in dynamic environments. The understanding of the role of eye movements in visual cognition. EPSRC project enabled us to make an initial foray into documenting the neural systems engaged by collision stimuli and a particularly novel Biography contribution is the role of sub-cortical structures (1). Pushing those Professor Walker completed his PhD at Durham working with issues into an applied context our ESRC project is has documented Professor John M Findlay (1989–1992) and spent a further three years critical limitations in the perceptual sensitivity of children (6 – 11 yrs as a post doctoral RA working in the same lab. He went on to a post- old) in the context of road crossing (2). A linked ESRC studentship doctoral research fellowship at Charing Cross (now Imperial) School of is also looking at the same issues in primary school children with Medicine, working with Professor C Kennard (1995–1997). Professor recognized perceptuo-motor problems. With have initiated a Walker was appointed as a lecturer at Royal Holloway in 1997 and collaborative studentship with the Transport Research Laboratory, obtained a chair in 2006. Crowthorne (EPSRC DTA funded) to look a collision errors specific to approaching motorcyclists. We have just completed a short study Selected Publications funded by RoSPA on the errors made by older drivers (70+) in road Hermens, F., Sumner, P., & Walker, R. (2010). Inhibition of settings. maskedprimes as revealed by saccade curvature. Vision Research, 50(1), 46-56. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.10.008 Biography John Wann established the Action Research Laboratories (ARL) Hermens, F., Zanker, J. M., & Walker, R. (2010). Microsaccades and 15 years ago and this research group gradually expanded and recently preparatory set: a comparison between delayed and immediate, changed to become a multi-centre entity. The focus of the ARL group exogenous and endogenous pro- and anti-saccades. Experimental has been on human visual-temporal judgments, particularly in the Brain Research, 201(3), 489-498. doi: 10.1007/s00221-009-2061-5 context of locomotion and steering; collision avoidance; disorders in Hu, Y., & Walker, R. (2011). The neural basis of parallel saccade visuo-motor development, as well as visual attention in aging and programming: An fMRI study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, those recovering from stroke; and issues related to 3D interactive 23(11), 3669-3680. displays. This has included human factors issues arising from the wide- McSorley, E., Haggard, P., & Walker, R. (2006). Time-course of spread use of simulation methods and VR displays. Support for this oculomotor inhibition revealed by saccade trajectory modulation. research has been provided by Research Councils: EPSRC, MRC and Journal of Neurophysiology., 96(3), 1420-1424. EU as well as commercial sponsorship (e.g. Olympus, Japan; Exponent, USA; Sharp Europe).

15 This work has been published not only in specialist journals but in developmental diseases: Bardet-Biedl, Alstrom, Joubert and oral- applied forums such as Human Computer Interaction/Human Factors facial-digital syndromes - the 'ciliopathies'; a disease called primary and to a general science readership through Nature Neuroscience and microcephaly in which the size of the brain is reduced.My research Trends in Cognitive Science. In addition to activities at RHUL, John is aimed at finding and characterising zebrafish embryos depleted Wann is a visiting Professor at the Institute of Transport Studies, Univ of other centriolar proteins that give similar phenotypes in order to of Leeds and sits on the Scientific Advisory Board for Volvo Technology work out the developmental pathways in which these proteins and on projects looking at the role of collision warning systems. organelles are involved. I am particularly interested in the control of cell division in the early embryonic brain. I use a variety of cell and Selected publications molecular biology techniques in my research, including (confocal) Reduced looming sensitivity in primary school children with (immuno)fluorscence microscopy and time-lapse imaging. I work with Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Purcell, C. , Wann, J. P. , zebrafish embryos and zebrafish cell lines. Wilmut, K. & Poulter, D. 2012 In : Developmental Science. 15, 3, p. 299-306. Biography I studied for my doctorate in the Department of Biochemistry, Neural processing of imminent collision in humans, Billington, J. , University of Cambridge under Peter Leadlay, FRS. I was then a post- Wilkie, R. M. , Field, D. T. & Wann, J. 2011 In : Proceedings of the doc under Prof. Erich Nigg at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry Royal Society B: Biological sciences. 278, p. 1476-1481. in Munich where I worked on the centrosome proteome. I returned to An fmri study of parietal cortex involvement in the visual guidance the Anatomy Department at Cambridge for a second post-doc under of locomotion, Billington, J. , Field, D. T. , Wilkie, R. M. & Wann, J. Prof. Bill Harris, FRS, to study centrosomes using zebrafish as a model 2010 In : Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and organism. I became a lecturer at Royal Holloway in 2008. Performance. 36, 6, p. 1495-1507. Selected Reference Neural systems in the visual control of steering, Field, D. T. , Wilkie, Zolessi, FR, Poggi, L, Wilkinson, CJ, Chien, CB, and Harris, WA (2006), R. M. & Wann, J. 25-Jul-2007 In : Journal of Neuroscience. 27, 30, p. Polarization and orientation of retinal ganglion cells in vivo, Neural 8002-10. development 1(2): 2-23. Functional localization of visual dorsal stream areas involved in steering a path based on visual information, Field, D. , Wilkie, R. & Wann, J. 2006 In : Journal of Psychophysiology. 20, 4, p. 321-321. Perceiving time to collision activates the sensorimotor cortex, Field, D. T. & Wann, J. 8-Mar-2005 In : Current Biology . 15, 5, p. 453-8. The role of size and binocular information in guiding reaching: insights from virtual reality and visual form agnosia III (of III), Wann, J. , Mon- Williams, M. , McIntosh, R. D. , Smyth, M. & Milner, A. D. 1-Jul-2001 In : Experimental Brain Research. 139, 2, p. 143-50. Why you should look where you are going, Wann, J. & Swapp, D. K. 1-Jul-2000 In : Nature Neuroscience. 3, 7, p. 647-8.

Professor Robin BS Williams School of Biological Sciences [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 276162

Research Advances in understanding the neuroscience of disease is currently highly problematic due to difficulties in experimental procedures with mammalian cells. These experiments also raise some ethical concerns. Our research has focused on understanding human diseases and conditions, the pharmacological mechanisms of drug action and the development of improved treatments, by using a stepwise approach to research. As a first step, we have championed the use of the Dr Christopher Wilkinson simple biomedical model system, Dictyostelium discoideum to make breakthroughs in our understanding of the molecular cell biology School of Biological Sciences of therapeutic drug action in disease treatment. As a second step, [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443778 we have then advanced these studies using traditional neuroscience methodologies, leading to an improved understanding of human Research disease or the development of more effective and safer treatments. My interest lies in the roles of centrioles and associated proteins, as Areas of specific focus in our research include: parts of the centrosome and cilium, in early vertebrate development, using zebrafish embryos as a model system. The centrosome is the 1. Understanding the molecular pharmacology of epilepsy and bipolar microtubule-organising centre of the cell and so influences cell shape, disorder drug action and developing improved treatments. We have a polarity and migration. The centrosome is adapted in many cells to long-standing interesting in understanding the molecular mechanism form the basal body from which cilia, hair-like, microtubule-based for a widely prescribed epilepsy and bipolar disorder treatment, called structures that protrude from the cell surface of many cell types. Valproic acid. The mechanism for this compound remains unknown, Mutations in genes that encode components of the centrosome and this has hampered the development of improved treatments. and cilium have been linked to a number of inherited, human By taking advantage of a range of experimental approaches in

16 Dictyostelium that are not possible in mammalian neurons, we have then Reader in Molecular Cell Biology, where he continues his research made a number of important discoveries in this area: into Neuroscience, molecular cell biology and the replacement and reduction of animals in research. a. Epilepsy drug development. Identifying a molecular effect of valproic acid in Dictyostelium enabled us to screen a wide range of Selected Publications compounds related to valproic acid without using animals. From Pakes, Veltman, Rivero, Nasir, Insall and Williams (2012) ZizB, a this study, we have identified a series of compounds that we have novel RacGEF regulates development, cell motility and cytokinesis in translated to traditional neuroscience models for epilepsy to show Dictyostelium. J Cell Sci, 125, 10, 2457-65 3-5 fold improved efficacy in seizure control in in vitro and in vivo in seizure models using electrophysiology approaches. We have also Elphick, Pawolleck, Guschina, Chaieb, Eikel, Nau, Harwood, Plant, and shown that these compounds lack critical side effects associated with Williams (2012) Conserved valproic acid-induced lipid droplet formation current treatment (by histone deactetylase (HDAC) analysis and lipid in Dictyostelium and Human hepatocytes (huh7) identifies structurally labelling experiments). Importantly, these novel compounds are related active compounds. Disease Models and Mechanism, 5: 231-40 to those found in the ketogenic diet, which is widely used in the Robery, Mukanowa, Nathalie Percie du Sert, Andrews and Williams treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy in children. This work is likely to (2011) Investigating the effect of emetic compounds on chemotaxis in lead to the identification of improved epilepsy treatments. Dictyostelium identifies a non-sentient model for bitter and hot tastant b. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of bipolar disorder research. Plos One, 6(9):e24439 treatments. Neuropsychiatric research using traditional neuroscience Chang, Orabi, Deranieh, Dham, Hoeller, Shimshoni, Yagen, Bialer, models is highly complex due to experimental difficulties with Greenberg, Walker and Williams (2011) The anti-epileptic valproic acid maintaining and manipulating neurons. Our discovery of a common and other medium chain fatty acids acutely reduce phosphoinositide molecular effect of bipolar disorder treatments – through inositol levels independently of inositol in Dictyostelium. Disease Models and depletion - has enabled us to focus on this effect in Dictyostelium Mechanism, 5, 115-124. to identify the primary site of action for bipolar disorder drugs and to develop new treatments. These experiments are based around Terbach, Shah, Keleman, Klein, Gordienko, Brown, Wilkinson, and molecular cell biology approaches. Williams (2011) Identifying an uptake mechanism for the antiepileptic and bipolar disorder treatment valproic acid using the simple 2. Building a new model for the analysis of human presenilin cell biomedical model Dictyostelium. J Cell Sci 124, 2267-76. function relating to familial Alzheimer’s disease. Inherited forms of Alzheimer’s disease are most often associated with mutations in one Ludtmann, Boeckeler and Williams (2011) Molecular pharmacology in of two presenilin proteins. The analysis of the cellular role of these a simple model system: implicating MAP kinase and phosphoinositide proteins in mammalian neurons is difficult, since genetic ablation of signalling in bipolar disorder. Seminars in Cell and Developmental both enzymatic activities blocks development and is lethal. We have Biology, 22, 105-13 shown that Dictyostelium contains two related proteins, and these also control development. We have developed this project by showing that human presenilin proteins are functionally active in Dictyostelium and will provide an excellent model for molecular neuroscience and pharmacology research. 3. Exploring a non-sentient model for use in first-pass screens for emetic research. We have developed a novel screen to potentially enable the early identification of novel chemical entities (i.e. new therapeutic treatments) for causing emesis or nausea in animals. This screen may be employed to reduce the number of adverse animal experiments in novel drug development. 4. Protecting against terminal blood loss. A series of recent studies have identified a putative pharmacological mechanism for protecting patients against death by major trauma. We are investigating the cellular and molecular mechanism of this process with a view to potential drug development, using neuronal and hepatocyte models. Dr Rafael Yáñez Biography School of Biological Sciences After undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of [email protected] T: +44 (0)1784 443180 Sydney (Australia), Dr Robin Williams developed a fundamental interest in molecular cell biology in microbial models whist at the University Research Interests of Melbourne (Australia). A subsequent Postdoctoral position at St The laboratory works on gene therapy for neurodegenerative Andrews University in the UK led to a second postdoctoral position diseases using novel, integration-deficient lentiviral vectors and exploring pharmacological targets in the social amoeba Dictyostelium, adeno-associated viral vectors. They are particularly interested in the at University College London (UCL). treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, Parkinson disease and stroke. They also use these vectors for gene repair in monogenic diseases Following a successful application for a Wellcome Trust Career including severe combined immunodeficiency and Duchenne muscular Development fellowship, still at University College, enabled Dr dystrophy. Another major goal is converting the non-replicating Williams to start improving his understanding of the molecular lentivector episomes into replicating episomes of wider applicability. mechanism of the antiepileptic and bipolar disorder treatment, Valproic acid, using Dictyostelium as an animal reduction/replacement model. From there he moved to Royal Holloway as senior lecturer and

17 Bartholomae, C.C., Arens, A., Balaggan, K.S., Yáñez-Muñoz, R.J., Montini, E., Howe, S.J, Paruzynski, A., Korn, B., Appelt, U., MacNeil, A., Cesana, D., Abel, U., Glimm, H., Naldini, L., Ali, R.R., Thrasher, A.J., von Kalle, C. and Schmidt, M. (2011) Lentiviral vector integration profiles differ in rodent postmitotic tissues. Mol Ther., 19, 703-10. Epub 2011 Mar 1. Yip, P.K., Wong, L.-F., Sears, T.A., Yáñez-Muñoz, R.J. and McMahon, S.B. (2010) Neuronal calcium sensor 1 promotes Figure: labelling of neurons with integration-deficient lentiviral vectors. functional plasticity after unilateral spinal cord injury. PLoS Biology, A vector expressing eGFP (a gene that makes cells fluoresce green) was Jun 22;8(6):e1000399, Epub 2010 June 22. doi: 10.1371/journal. used to mark cells in the spinal cord (left) or the olfactory bulb in the brain pbio.1000399 (right). On the left panel motor neurons were also stained red with an antibody, so if these cells have taken up the viral vector the overlap of red Wanisch, K. and Yáñez-Muñoz, R.J. (2009) Integration-deficient and green fluorescence in their cell bodies is seen as yellow. lentiviral vectors: a slow coming of age. Mol Ther 17, 1316-1332. doi:10.1038/mt.2009.122. Dr Yáñez and his team have demonstrated that lentiviral (HIV) vectors modified to prevent integration in the cellular genome are Gabriel, R., Eckenberg, R., Paruzynski, A., Bartholomae, C.C., very efficient tools for gene therapy (Yáñez-Muñoz et al., 2006). Nowrouzi, A., Arens, A., Howe, S.J., Recchia, A., Cattoglio, C., The vectors are rendered integration-deficient by using missense Wang, W., Faber, K., Schwarzwaelder, K., Kirsten, R., Deichmann, mutations altering the integrase active site. Failing to integrate in A., Ball, C.R., Balaggan, K.S., Yáñez-Muñoz, R.J., Ali, R.R., Gaspar, the host cell genome these lentivectors generate increased levels of H.B., Biasco, L., Aiuti, A., Cesana, D., Montini, E., Naldini, L., Cohen- episomal vector circles, which lack replication signals and get diluted Haguenauer, O., Mavilio, F., Thrasher, A.J., Glimm, H., von Kalle, C., out through cell division. Gene expression from the viral episomes Saurin, W. and Schmidt, M. (2009) Comprehensive genomic access to is transient in dividing cells but long-lived and efficient in quiescent vector integration in clinical gene therapy. Nat Med 15, 1431-1436. tissues, including eye, brain, spinal cord and muscle (Yáñez-Muñoz et doi:10.1038/nm.2057. al., 2006; Fabes et al., 2006). The main advantages of these non- Yáñez-Muñoz, R.J., Balaggan, K.S., MacNeil, A., Howe, S., Schmidt, M., integrating lentivectors in gene addition strategies are their highly Smith, A.J., Buch, P., MacLaren, R.E., Anderson, P.N., Barker, S., Duran, reduced risk of causing insertional mutagenesis and their avoidance of Y., Bartholomae, C., von Kalle, C., Heckenlively, J.R., Kinnon, C., Ali, R.R. position effect variegation. and Thrasher, A.J. (2006) Effective gene therapy with nonintegrating lentiviral vectors. Nat. Med. 12, 348-353. doi:10.1038/nm1365 Biography Rafael Yáñez is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Biomedical Sciences at the School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London. He previously held Lecturer appointments with King’s College London and University College London, and received his PhD and BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. Dr Yáñez has a long- standing interest in gene therapy by both gene complementation and gene repair (homologous recombination). He is an expert in cell transgenesis and viral technology and has specifically researched on DNA viruses, therapeutic gene repair and viral vectors. Rafael Yáñez led the team that published the first in vivo demonstration of high transduction efficiency by integration-deficient lentiviral vectors (IDLVs), a very significant improvement in the bio-safety of this vector system. He is currently developing several viral vectors for further applications of research and clinical relevance, with particular interest Professor Johannes Zanker in neurodegenerative and inherited diseases. Dr Yáñez is a member of Department of Psychology the Board of the British Society for Gene Therapy and of two European Union FP7-funded consortia aiming at the development of gene [email protected] T: +44 (0)1794 443521 therapy from bench to bed-side. He organises the largest UK event to Research mark Rare Disease Day (www.rhul.ac.uk/rarediseaseday). Johannes Zanker is Professor of Neuroscience at Royal Holloway Selected publications University of London. His research focuses on a combined Broadstock, M. and Yáñez-Muñoz, R.J. (2012) Challenges for psychophysical and computational approach to visual information gene therapy of CNS disorders and implications for Parkinson’s processing in biological and artificial systems. He developed a disease therapies. Hum Gene Ther 23, 340-343. Epub 2012 Apr 10. biologically plausible model of the front-end filter, the 2DMD model, doi:10.1089/hum.2012.2507. to precisely define the motion processing requirements for solving a given perceptual or control task, and to explore ideas about Hutson, T.H., Verhaagen, J., Yáñez-Muñoz, R.J. and Moon, L.D.F. possible algorithms solving these problems. This model has been (2012) Corticospinal tract transduction: a comparison of seven adeno- used to understand a variety of motion vision problems, including associated viral vector serotypes and a non-integrating lentiviral the analysis of natural motion signals and the discrimination of speed vector. Gene Ther, 19, 49-60. Epub 2011 May 12. doi:10.1038/ in noisy random dot kinematograms, as well as higher-order motion gt.2011.71

18 processing and motion-based segmentation and motion transparency, Selected Publications and the perception of motion illusions in the Barbers Pole and Op Art Durant, S. and J.M. Zanker: Variation in the local motion statistics of paintings. In the context of a investigating the relationship between real-life optic flow scenes. Neural Computation 24, 1781-1805 (2012) oculo-motor control and perception, he recently embarked on studying eye movements together with evolutionary algorithms as a Holmes, T. and J.M. Zanker: Using an oculomotor signature as an tool to measure aesthetic preferences. indicator of aesthetic preference. iPerception 3, 426-439 (2012)

Biography Durant, S. M.B. Walla, and J.M. Zanker: Manipulating the content of dynamic natural scenes to characterize response in human MT/MST. Educated at Universitaet Tübingen, Germany, and University of Journal of Vision 11 (10): 5, 1-14 (2011) Sussex, UK, he developed much of his research career at the Max- Planck-Instuitut in Germany, University College London, UK, and the Zanker, J.M., F. Hermens and R. Walker: Quantifying and modeling Australian National University, from where he joined RHUL. In the the strength of motion illusions perceived in static patterns. Journal of UK, he received funding from BBSRC, EPSRC, and The Leverhulme Vision 10 (2): 13, 1-14 (2010) Trust. He attracted third-stream funding (NESTA, PARK, HEIF, Gateway Meso, A.I. and J.M. Zanker: Speed encoding in correlation motion Seed Fund) to develop new technologies based on principles of detectors as a consequence of spatial structure. Biological Cybernetics visual information processing in humans. He held various patents, 100, 361-370 (2009) published extensively in scientific journals and is presenting regularly at international conferences. Zanker, J.M. and J. Zeil: Movement-induced motion signal distributions in outdoor scenes. Network: Computation in Neural Systems 16 (4), Techniques: psychophysics, eye tracking, computational modelling, 357-376 (2005) some electrophysiology, thinking (sometimes) Royal Holloway, University of London Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX T: 01784 434455 www.rhul.ac.uk 6528 10/126528

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