University of Oxford MEG lab

University of Oxford MEG lab

Research topics

MEG research is based at the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA), a multi-modality imaging centre providing state-of-the-art techniques for measuring and stimulating activity in the living human brain. As part of the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN) and the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), our aim is to bridge the gap between laboratory neuroscience and human health. We focus on developing an integrated understanding of how the brain works, both in health and in disease, which we hope will lead to clinical impact; for example, by allowing us not only to predict disease in individual patients, but also to provide causal explanations of neurological and psychiatric symptoms.

We use MEG to explore the mechanisms of attention, and how it influences perception and decision-making by helping to focus on the most important information whilst ignoring distractions. This includes work on perceptual bias, and how it influences memory formation, and how memories in turn create new bias patterns (Attention Group).

The brain is capable of proactively and dynamically shaping our selective perception and memory according to context. This is known as selective attention, and we study its role in healthy cognition and how its disruption contributes to deficits in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders (Brain and Cognition Group).

We also develop novel computational methodologies, allowing new questions to be asked about the brain in fundamental and clinical neuroscience research. In particular, we focus on using machine learning and biophysical modelling to understand the dynamics of large-scale networks (Analysis Group).

Research facilities and equipment

The MEG lab at Oxford University houses a 306 channel Elekta-Neuromag VectorView system. The MEG is located in a large magnetically shielded room (4x3m). Dedicated systems can deliver high-quality auditory and visual stimuli. The MEG system is equipped with a fully integrated, state-of-the-art PROPixx projection system (VPixx) and a high-precision EyeLink 1000 eye-tracking system (SR Research). Fibre-optic button boxes are used for monitoring the behavioural responses of volunteers.

An integrated 128-channel Electroencephalography (EEG) system can measure scalp-potentials during the MEG experiment, where the EEG signals are recorded in the same dataset as the MEG channels.

Further information about the OHBA MEG lab set-up is available at the following link: https://www.ohba.ox.ac.uk/facilities/magnetoencephalography-meg.

Location

The MEG lab is part of OHBA, located on the site of the University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital.

People

Head

Kia Nobre
Director of Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity
Chair in Translational Cognitive Neuroscience

Academic Investigators

Stuart Clare
Associate Professor

Clare Mackay
Professor of Imaging Neuroscience

Charlotte Stagg
Wellcome Trust / Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellow

Mark Stokes
Associate Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience

Mark Woolrich
Professor of Computational Neuroscience

Core Staff

Sven Braeutigam
MEG Physicist

Rocio Silva Zunino
MEG lab manager

Post-Doctoral Researchers

Romesh Abeysuriya
Postdoctoral Scientist

Robert Becker
Postdoctoral Researcher

Sam Harrison
Postdoctoral Researcher

Simone Heideman
Postdoctoral Researcher

Laurence Hunt
NIHR/Wellcome Trust Senior Postdoctoral Researcher

Nick Myers
Postdoctoral Researcher

Andrew Quinn
Postdoctoral Researcher

Ana Todorović
Postdoctoral Researcher

Freek van Ede
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Diego Vidaurre
Postdoctoral Researcher

Nahid Zokaei
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow

DPhil Students & Research Assistants

Lauren Atkinson
DPhil Student

Sage Boettcher
DPhil Student

Giedre Cepukaityte
DPhil Student

Sammi Chekroud
Research Assistant

Cameron Higgins
DPhil Student

Alexander Luettich
DPhil Student

Magdalena Nowak
DPhil Student

Alexander Skates
DPhil Student

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