Dr Neil Burgess

Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL
Email: n.burgess@ucl.ac.uk
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University education: 1984-1987 B.Sc. Maths & Physics 1st with Hons. University College London; 1987-1990 Ph.D. Theoretical Physics University of Manchester (Owens)

Employment: 2001-2006 MRC Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience & Dept of Anatomy, UCL; 1993-2001 Royal Society University Research Fellow, at the Dept. of Anatomy, UCL; 1991-1993 Post doctoral research fellow at the Dept. of Anatomy and Dev. Biology with Prof. J. O'Keefe;
1990-1991 Royal Society European Scientific Exchange Program research
fellowship at IBM European Centre of Science and Engineering Computation,
Rome, Italy.

Computational interests: neural-level models of memory in humans and rats (esp. spatial memory). I attempt to understand how the behaviour of single neurons (as deduced from rat and primate research) enables people (and animals) to remember where things are, how to get their and, hopefully, what happened to them.

Experimental interests: single unit recording in rat hippocampus (esp.'place cells') to attempt to deduce the neural basis of spatial navigation; neuropsychological and functional neuro-imaging experiments in humans to investigate the neural bases of spatial and episodic memory, often making use of virtual reality. One aim is to produce behavioural tests sensitive to hippocampal damage that may help in early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.