The behavioural and clinical neuroscience research group at Sussex University has interests in
- the application of basic neuroscience and behavioural techniques in rodents to study the neural bases of drug addiction
- the application of human psychopharmacology techniques to explore the detailed effects of drugs on human behaviour and cognition, as well as both preclinical and clinical investigations of the cognitive and other psychological deficits associated with long-term use of drugs such as ecstasy and alcohol
- the neurobiology of motivation, with specialist interests in the control of ingestion
- the cognitive neuroscience of human memory and attention, and especially research on deficits associated with disorders such as dementia and schizophrenia
There is a close inter-relationship between animal, human and clinical work. On the animal side, the Sussex group is one of the strongest groups in any UK university for the behavioural characterisation of transgenic mice, and enjoys collaborative links with molecular geneticists in the School of Life Sciences, with the neighbouring Sussex Centre for Neuroscience, and with the newly established Medical School. On both the human and animal side, the group has long-standing links with clinical health professionals across the county.
There is a dedicated unit for the laboratory study of rodents, and a human psychopharmacology laboratory, including facilities for the study of eating behaviour, and alcohol and smoking use, and incorporating a bedded unit should participants need to stay overnight.
| FACULTY follow link from name for personal web page | ||
| Peter Clifton | Neural substrates of ingestive behaviour: how specific neurotransmitter systems and neural structures contribute to the integration of feeding behaviour. | |
| Hans Crombag | Neurobiological foundations of motivated behaviour and addiction. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of appetitive and consummatory behaviour. Drug-induced neuroplasticity and persistent changes in behaviour. Contextual learning processes in relapse. | |
| Dora Duka | Alcohol and nicotine addiction: human studies of conditioning, implications for alcohol and nicotine effects; alcohol craving in humans, adaptive mechanisms, emotional and cognitive factors. Psychopharmacology of cognition: alcohol and related drugs, emotional and cognitive effects. | |
| Samuel Hutton | Cognitive neuropsychiatry - the cognitive deficits associated with psychiatric and neurological disorders; eye movement research - using gaze tracking to determine the allocation of attention during task performance; the role of attention and working memory in oculomotor control | |
| Sarah King | Molecular and behavioural effects of chronic nicotine exposure; developing novel strategies (RNAi and viral mediated gene transfer) to study aspects of drug addiction in cell culture and in vivo. | |
| Michael Morgan | Aspects of substance misuse and dependence, from cigarette craving to persistent neuropsychological sequelae of ecstasy and other polydrug use; impulse control in adolescence and adulthood, psychopathology and substance misuse; human neuropsychopharmacology. | |
| Tamzin Ripley | Changes in processing and plasticity in the central nervous system using both sophisticated behavioural and electrophysiological techniques; special interest in the application of these techniques to problems associated with drug abuse and drug therapy, and also in phenomena associated with learning processes and interaction with environmental stimuli. | |
| Jennifer Rusted | Psychopharmacology of human memory; prospective and action-based memory in ageing and dementia; drug models of dementia; behavioural and drug interventions for people with dementia. | |
| Dai Stephens | Neurobiological and behavioural mechanisms underlying drug dependence, particularly mechanisms of behavioural and brain plasticity underlying sensitisation to abused drugs. Behavioural neuroscience of GABAergic and glutamatergic systems. | |
| Martin Yeomans | Appetite control and the development of food preferences; dieting as a model of disordered eating and obesity; psychopharmacology of eating and drinking; effects of food ingredients on mood and cognitive performance. | |
| RESEARCH FELLOWS follow link from name for personal web page | ||