Neuronal Basis of multisensory integration for spatial navigation

• Supervisor: Dr Guifen Chen
• Studentship Name: SBBS Studentship
• Funder: School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences (SBBS) at QMUL
• Application Deadline: 23:59PM, 23 June 2024
• Expected Start Date: Sept 2024

Download this document for further details, eligibility criteria and how to apply. [PDF 79KB]

Project Overview

Applications are open for a 3-year funded PhD Studentship in the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences (SBBS) at Queen Mary University of London.

Our physical environment possesses many different cues that are perceived by our sensory systems. As we move through the environment, we observe a corresponding change in the sensory cues. In mammals, the hippocampus and its adjacent areas in the medial temporal lobe, have long been implicated in spatial navigation and learning. Several types of spatial neurons have been discovered in this area, including place cells and grid cells. 

The activity of these neurons represents an animal’s current location. Despite this discovery of an internal representation (or “map”) of space, it remains unclear how the brain combines environmental sensory cues (e.g. visual landmarks) with self-motion information (e.g. locomotor or optic flow cues) in order to form these maps. Hence, the focus of this project is to disentangle the effects of visual and self- motion cues on place cells and grid cells during spatial mapping.

The project will study the distinct roles of place cells and grid cells in building spatial representations, by taking advantage of the new 2D VR system. The aim is to understand how place and grid cells interact and combine sensory cues to represent space in health and aging models such as Alzheimer’s disease. 

The project offers a new angle for understanding the interaction between spatial cells and their functions in spatial learning, providing the foundation for the applications in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotic navigation. The primary techniques that will be used include in vivo electrophysiological single-unit recording using tetrodes and Neuropixel probes. 

Find out more about the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences on our website. 

Research Environment

Dr Guifen Chen’s lab focuses on studying how sensory inputs are integrated at the neural network level to form spatial representation in the brain. Using the state-of-the-art two-dimensional virtual reality system, combined with in vivo electrophysiological recording, her group can investigate the separate effects of sensory inputs on spatial learning in awake animals. Her long-term research interests lie in the network mechanisms of spatial cognition and episodic memory in healthy and diseased brains including Alzheimer’s and Autism. 

Further details about Dr Guifen Chen’s group are available here.

Find out more about the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences on our website.

Entry Requirements & Criteria

We are looking for candidates to have or expecting to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree and a Master’s degree in an area relevant to the project such Neuroscience, Life Sciences, Medicine, Psychology, Physics, Maths or Computer Science. Candidates must also have experience conducting research in a laboratory environment. 

Programming skills such as Matlab, a good understanding of math, and experience of rodent experiments would be highly advantageous but are not required.

Find out more about our entry requirements here.

Funding

The studentship is funded by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). It will cover home tuition fees, and provide an annual tax-free maintenance allowance for 3 years at the UKRI rate (£20,622 in 2023/24).

Please find out more about funding and eligibility via: Chen_SBBS Studentship Details [PDF 79KB].

Any further queries can be sent to sbbs-pgadmissions@qmul.ac.uk 

How to Apply

Formal applications must be submitted through our online form by the stated deadline for consideration.

Find out more about our application process on our SBBS website.

Informal enquiries about the project can be sent to Guifen Chen at guifen.chen@qmul.ac.uk 

Admissions-related queries can be sent to sbbs-pgadmissions@qmul.ac.uk.

Further details can be downloaded here: Chen_SBBS Studentship Details [PDF 79KB]

Apply Online