People
Ian studied Pharmacology as an undergraduate before completing his PhD at the London School of Pharmacy with Trevor Smart, working on inhibitory synaptic plasticity in the cerebellum. He did his postdoctoral research with Michael Häusser at UCL, where he investigated sensory information processing in single cerebellar neurons in vivo. Ian started his lab at the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh in 2009. The main research interest of the lab is to understand the neural circuit mechanisms that underpin voluntary motor control. Using top-down and bottom-up approaches, the goal is to understand how distributed brain areas coordinate their activities to learn, execute and adapt complex movements.
Thomas studied Medicine at Oxford University, before moving to University College London where he received a BSc in Neuroscience. Here, he studied in Dr Bruce Paton’s lab examining EMG activity as an outcome predictor for patients recovering from anterior cruciate ligament injuries. He joined the Duguid Lab as a Masters Student in 2018, and is now in the third year of a BBSRC funded PhD. Thomas studies the roles of the motor thalamus, basal ganglia and cerebellum in the timing and initiation of movements. In addition, he aims to understand how the timing and magnitude of activity in these brain areas change during learning and refinement of movements. To interrogate these circuits he uses behavioural assays, in vivo patch clamp, optogenetic interventions, fibre photometry and anatomical tracing techniques.
Constantinos received a BSc in Neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh, where he studied in Dr Cyril Pernet's lab investigating language processing in stroke patients with Wernicke's aphasia. He joined the Duguid Lab as a PhD student in 2018, funded by a joint studentship from the Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain and the University of Edinburgh's Principal's Career Development Scholarship. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow. Constantinos' research aims to understand the nature of visuomotor learning deficits in Rett Syndrome, a devastating neurodevelopmental disordered caused by mutations in the Mecp2 gene. He uses mesoscale calcium imaging of the dorsal cortex to investigate the evolution of interareal neural dynamics across learning and their breakdown in Rett Syndrome. Constantinos is also interested in software sustainability and the management of large datasets in research, leveraging his experience in systems administration and software development.
Yilin is a PhD student in the Duguid Lab. Her work focuses on the subcortical activity dynamics that underly sensorimotor control, and how the activities are compromised in neurodevelopmental disorder like Rett Syndrome. The adjustment and optimisation of movement kinematics are key for our daily life. By combining sensorimotor behavioural tasks with imaging, electrophysiological, and optogenetic tools, her work aims to investigate how subcortical motor circuits compute the kinematic information required for the appropriate execution of voluntary movement, as well as how this process is compromised in a mouse model of Rett Syndrome.
Michelle studied Biology and Mathematics at the National University of Mexico (UNAM). She then obtained her MSc and PhD from the University of Edinburgh, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Duguid Lab. She investigates the spatiotemporal activity patterns of corticospinal neurons of the motor cortex during the execution of goal-directed actions. She uses 2-photon imaging and optogenetic techniques to record and manipulate the corticospinal activity in mice performing a motor task to identify how changes in activity at both the population and single cell levels contribute to the execution of contextually appropriate actions.
Wei Xu studied medicine at the University of Cambridge where he also obtained his PhD in neuroscience as part of the MB/PhD programme. After graduating he worked for two years in clinical practice before starting his first postdoctoral job in the motor control group at Newcastle University in the labs of Stuart Baker and Andrew Jackson. Whilst there he carried out neuronal recording in monkeys to study the neuronal dynamics of M1, cerebellum and motor Thalamus during waking motor tasks and sleep. He currently works in the laboratory of Professor Ian Duguid at Edinburgh University investigating neuronal dynamics in M1 and Thalamus in mice performing a skilled motor task.