Profile – Brain Zone

Education:

William Parker School and 6th Form, got very mediocre GCSEs and took 3 years at 6th form as I did not get the grades the first time round.
Qualifications:

I studied biochemistry at Imperial College London, it was hard but a lot of fun.
Work History:

After my degree I worked as a research assistant for about a year at Imperial for some lectures and professors I knew.
Current Job:

I am doing a PhD in neuroscience.

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I measure electrical impulses that run around a part of the brain called the hippocampus in the first couple of weeks after birth, my lab is concerned primarily with the how these electrical signals are generated and modified. These currents that are found in the immature brain are thought to be important for developing a wiring network that can changed and/or strengthened in later life as you learn and forget. The hippocampus is important for learning and memory, particularly converting short-term recollections into long-term memories, it is also required for spatial memory and reasoning.

recollection
My Typical Day:

My days are varied but mostly I prepare brain slices in the morning that I then record electrical impulses from.
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I have to prepare the brain slices very quickly and in cold solutions to help minimise neuronal death, otherwie they would be useless. I record electical currents from the neurons, using very small and fragile glass electrodes, within the hippocampal circitry. I then use different drugs and toxins to block different parts of the cell to pin-point which parts are important for generating and modifying these signals.
What I'd do with the prize money:

Pay for science equipment in schools.

Simon Bennett