Professor Matthew Nolan from the University of Edinburgh is one of the opponents in the disputation of PhD candidate Ingeborg Nymoen Nystuen. During his visit he will hold a guest seminar titled: "Neural coding schemes for representing learned spatial behaviours".
Abstract
The hippocampus and entorhinal cortex play critical roles in declarative memory and spatial cognition. The circuit mechanisms responsible remain unclear but neurons with localised spatial receptive fields are widely considered to be essential. I will discuss evidence that entorhinal circuits also generate non-localised ramping representations of location that are complementary to the well-studied localised spatial representations. I will consider when these distinct representational strategies might be important for behaviour and how non-localised codes might emerge with learning.
Professor Matthew Nolan
Matthew Nolan holds a professorship in Neural Circuits and Computations at the University of Edinburgh. Nolan is an electrophysiologist by training. After his PhD from Aberdeen University where he focused on glutamate receptors in the preganglionic nerve, he joined Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel for his postdoctoral work before returning to University of Edinburg.
His research interests are to understand the brain's extraordinary cognitive capabilities resulting from computations carried out by groups of neurons organised into circuits. Understanding how neural circuits implement computations is a major unsolved scientific problem. Nolan addresses this using state-of-the-art optical, electrical and molecular technologies, with a particular focus on the neural computations that underlie learning and memory. His research has implications for understanding normal cognitive function and for cognitive disorders including Alzheimer's and autism spectrum disorders. Nolan is deeply involved in teaching and mentoring students at all levels.