UCL Institute of Neurology

A community in Papua New Guinea that suffered a major epidemic of a CJD-like fatal brain disease called kuru has developed strong genetic resistance to the disease, according to new research by Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists, from the MRC Prion Unit in the UCL Institute of Neurology.

The long-held theory that our brains use different mechanisms for forming long-term and short-term memories has been challenged by new research from UCL, published  in PNAS.

12th November

Enhancing the effects of the brain chemical dopamine influences how people make life choices by affecting expectations of pleasure, according to new research from the IoN Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience.

One of three bold new research programmes focusing on devastating neurodegenerative diseases has been won by a team from the Institute.

Colombian guerrillas help UCL scientists locate literacy in the brain

Scientists have redefined their understanding of the key regions of the brain involved in literacy.

The Institute is delighted to congratulate Professor Elizabeth Fisher (Department of Neurodegenerative Disease) on her election to membership of EMBO.  EMBO membership comprises 1,420 of the world’s foremost molecular biologists and new members are elected annually on the basis of proven scientific excellence. Fifty scientists from the EMBO membership have received the Nobel Prize. 

Professor Driver (Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience) is one of a handful of leading scientists to receive the prestigious award, which has been made in celebration of the Royal Society's 350th anniversary.

Professor Josemir (Ley) W. Sander, of the Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy has been named recipient

A podcast by Institute Director Professor Alan Thompson features in the latest edition of Science Watch, the information service from Thompson Reuters which tracks trends and performance in basic research. In the podcast Professor Thompson discusses the significance of one of most highly cited* papers in the field of neuroscience & behaviour, which he co-authored in 2001.

Boosting a certain type of brain wave can slow people's movements, researchers from the Sobell Department of Movement Disorders have discovered.

Dr Mary Reilly (MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, Department of Molecular Neurosciences,UCL Institute of Neurology) and Professor Michael Shy, (Wayne State University, USA) together with four other US collaborators have just been awarded a $6.25 million grant from the NIH Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network to fund research into Charcot-Marie Tooth disease.

One of the defining characteristics of human intelligence is the ability to use prior knowledge when dealing with new situations through the development of 'concepts'. For example, we know that an animal that barks, has four legs, is furry and has a snout is likely to be a dog.