Our Research

We are interested in how our ability to remember and re-experience past experiences changes as we age. Currently we are investigating how differences in genetics or in brain anatomy and connectivity can influence how we remember our past.

Our laboratory uses a range of methods, including behavioural measures, electrophysiology (EEG) as well as functional and structural neuroimaging (fMRI/MRI) to explore memory. 

One area of specific interest is declarative memory (memory of facts and events that can be consciously recalled) and its subtypes. Recent studies suggest that there may be more types of memory between the categories of semantic (knowledge of facts and the world) and episodic (memory of specific events) memory. Our research focuses on personal semantic memory, which lies between episodic and semantic memory. Personal semantics concerns knowledge of one's past (I was born on the 25th of June like George Orwell). While personal semantics show similar features to both semantic and episodic memory, they appear to be a distinct category, in that they are personal (like episodic memory) yet detached from a specific context of acquisition (like semantic memory).

Our work is funded by the ​Medical Research Council (MRC)