The Brain Behaviour Group (BBG)
Our research group investigates how brain pathology (the spread of abnormal proteins through neural circuits) produces symptoms of abnormal brain function (changes in behaviour) in major dementias.
Our research group investigates how brain pathology (the spread of abnormal proteins through neural circuits) produces symptoms of abnormal brain function (changes in behaviour) in major dementias - particularly Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and the primary progressive aphasias. Understanding and measuring how neurodegenerative brain pathology is linked to symptoms will be key to earlier dementia detection, diagnosis, prognosis and ultimately, treatments. We consider ourselves ‘dementia physiologists’ - much of our work is concerned with identifying new, dynamic physiological mechanisms and biomarkers of dementia, to span the gap between brain protein markers and measures of brain atrophy and cognitive decline.
Our core research focus is the processing of complex sounds, such as speech, voices, music and auditory scenes: such sounds are fundamental to daily life functioning, communication and well-being, and make intense processing demands on the brain that sensitively expose the effects of neurodegenerative pathologies. Around this core, we pursue other interconnected research themes in nonverbal (including socio-emotional) cognition, homeostatic (autonomic and sleep) function, cerebral plasticity, neuroaesthetics, clinical staging of primary progressive aphasia and development of cross-linguistic, culture-fair tests of brain hearing and communication function.
Our lab employs a number of research modalities and techniques, integrating cognitive neuropsychology, psychophysics, autonomic and electrophysiological recordings, structural and functional neuroimaging (especially fMRI) tools.
Our vision for this work rests on three broad, inter-related aims:
- to identify new physiological ‘readouts’ of neurodegenerative protein effects and their real-world functional impact in an individual person living with dementia - including ‘proximity markers’ that herald the imminent clinical onset of dementia
- to guide the development and targeting of better, more clinically relevant diagnostic tools and treatment strategies
- to assess rapidly whether treatments are working and to harness the brain’s residual capacities for adaptation and repair (‘plasticity’)
All of our work is clinically focused and directly informed by meeting and caring for people living with dementia. Without them, none of our research would be possible – they work with us, teach us and inspire us.
Professor Jason Warren, Principal Investigator
Lucy Core, PhD Student
Sophie Froud, PhD Student
Dr Chris Hardy, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Jess Jiang, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Ben Levett, PhD Student
Dr Emilie Brotherhood, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Janneke van Leeuwen, Director of The Thinking Eye
Dr Anna Volkmer, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Elia Benhamou, PhD Student
Rebecca Bond, PhD Student
Dr Anthipa Chokesuwattanaskul, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Camilla Clark, Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Miriam Cohen, Research Associate
Dr Phillip Fletcher, Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Konstantinos Georgiadis, PhD Student
Dr Hannah Golden, PhD Student
Dr Johanna Goll, PhD Student
Dr Julia Hailstone, PhD Student
Professor Andrea Halpern, Visiting Senior Scientist
Dr Kankamol Jaisin, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow
Professor Daniel Jimenez, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Jeremy Johnson, Clinical Research Fellow
Eva Larsen, Visiting Research Fellow
Dr Colin Mahoney, Clinical Research Fellow
Professor Charles Marshall, Clinical Research Fellow
Prof Carolina Maruta, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Salvatore Mazzeo, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Louwai Muhammed, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Eoin Mulroy, Clinical Research Fellow
Prof Rohani Omar, Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Katie Piwnica-Worms, Visiting Research Fellow
Dr Lorena Rami, Visiting Research Fellow
Dr Mai-Carmen Requena-Komuro, PhD Student
Professor Jonathan Rohrer, Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Tara Sani, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Harri Sivasathiaseelan, Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Catherine Slattery, Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Alexandra Thompson, Visiting Research Fellow
Dr Jochum van’t Hooft, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Heather Whittaker, Visiting Research Fellow
Dr Pirada Witoonpanich, Visiting Clinical Research Fellow
We collaborate with a number of other research groups at UCL, nationally and internationally, to harness their perspectives and expertise and to build awareness of the importance of dementia among basic scientists. Our collaborators include:
- Professor Doris-Eva Bamiou, Ear Institute, UCL
- Dr Marc Busche, UK Dementia Research Institute, UCL
- Professor Maria Chait, Ear Institute, UCL
- Dr Anthipa Chokesuwattanaskul, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
- Professor Sebastian Crutch, Dementia Research Centre, UCL
- Professor Sofia Eriksson, Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square
- Professor Nick Fox, Dementia Research Centre, UCL
- Professor Tim Griffiths, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University
- Dr Emma Holmes, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, UCL
- Professor Zane Jaunmuktane, Division of Neuropathology, UCL
- Dr Diego Kaski, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
- Dr Ashvini Keshavan, Dementia Research Centre, UCL
- Professor Charles Marshall, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London
- Dr Salvatore Mazzeo, University of Milan, Italy
- Dr Naaheed Mukadam, Division of Psychiatry, UCL
- Professor Patrick Naylor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London
- Dr T. Rune Nielsen, Danish Dementia Research Centre, University of Copenhagen
- Dr Holly Robson, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, UCL
- Professor Jonathan Rohrer, Dementia Research Centre, UCL
- Professor Aaron Seitz, University of California Riverside, USA
- Professor Jonathan Schott, Dementia Research Centre, UCL
- Dr Andrew Sommerlad, Division of Psychiatry, UCL
- Prof Nick Tyler, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, UCL
- Dr Janneke van Leeuwen, The Thinking Eye
- Dr Jochum van’t Hooft, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Netherlands
- Dr Anna Volkmer, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, UCL
- Dr Keir Yong, Dementia Research Centre, UCL
- Dr Peter Zeidman, Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL
- Alzheimer’s Society
- Alzheimer’s Research UK
- Dunhill Medical Trust
- Royal National Institute for Deaf People
- National Brain Appeal (Frontotemporal Dementia Studentship in Memory of David Blechner)
- NIHR
- NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre
- UCL Research Excellence Scholarship
- Wellcome Trust
Want to be a participant in our research?
For more information about our research, please use the link below. If you would like to take part, please send an email to Sophie Froud at sophie.froud.23@ucl.ac.uk.
