Thinking It's All Over!

As we get older, forgetfulness is inevitable. In some people (eg, those with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s) it can severely impact on quality of life, and lead to them needing full time care. Scientists are trying to find ways of prolonging and improving memory, in both healthy people and people with neurodegenerative diseases. In this talk, I will tell you about work that we have done with a small freshwater fish (zebrafish) and how this can help us understand (and treat) memory problems!

Orders to remain at home and socially isolate during COVID-19 affected us all. For many, sudden lifestyle changes caused significant mental distress. At the start of the pandemic, scientists were concerned how this may leave vulnerable individuals at-risk of developing, or re-establishing, hazardous alcohol use. Sadly, they were right, with record high alcohol-related deaths in 2020-21. In this talk, I will discuss current research findings to answer the question of who was drinking more and put forward ideas as to why.

Penalty kicks play a decisive role in the most prestigious football tournaments around the world. As a result, they represent incredibly high pressure situations whereby the goalkeeper and penalty taker enter a short but intense game of 'cat and mouse'; each attempting to outdo the other in a psychological as well as physical competition. In this talk, I will discuss some of the ways in which each player might seek to trick their opponent and gain an advantage over the other.