A Journey into the Mind

Making decisions is a fundamental part of life that can have far-reaching effects on individuals and society. Understanding how the brain selects actions is key for advancing our knowledge of how the brain works. The mammalian brain is complex, making it difficult to fully understand neural circuits of action-selection. To overcome this challenge, we developed a study using flies. By studying the neural circuits of action-selection at the cellular level in fruit flies, we aim to reveal fundamental mechanisms underlying action-selection potentially common to all animal species, including humans

Our brain activity is never constant; it rhythmically bounces up and down producing waves called “neural oscillations”. Though these neural oscillations can last less than a second, they can create memories that last a lifetime. In this session, I’ll talk about how neural oscillations accomplish this and how we are using this knowledge to help those with a variety of memory impairments, culminating in the surprising suggestion that raves may well protect us from Alzheimer’s disease.

Many chronic conditions have relapses, impacting patients' quality of life. We showed that people with relapsing-remitting MS develop a fear of relapses. This fear becomes associated with how anxious they are about their health. Patients also associate ambiguous sensations more with their condition than a safe possibility. Consequently, negative attributions increase an individual's anxiety and fear of relapse. We suggest personalised interventions that modify a person's bias for negative interpretation can reduce health anxiety. We believe reduced health anxiety can reduce fear of relapse.