Dr Andrew Nelson
Lecturer
- nelsona5@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 5048
- Adeilad y Tŵr, Plas y Parc, Caerdydd, CF10 3AT
Research summary
My research interests are in the neurobiology of learning and memory. I am currently involved in projects testing non-spatial functions of the retrosplenial cortex as well as examining the contribution of the rostral thalamus to cognition.
Teaching summary
Levels 1 and 2: I Introductory lectures on biological psychology (PS2017). Cognitive practicals and tutorials on perception, cognition and abnormal/clinical psychology.
Level 3 Final year project supervision on a variety of topics.
Undergraduate education
1995 BA University of Bristol, History
2003 BSc University of Nottingham, Psychology
Postgraduate education
2007 PhD. Cardiff University, Thesis: Behavioural and Neurochemical Analysis of Stimulus-Response Habits in Rats.
Supervisor: Professor Simon Killcross.
BBSRC Studentship.
Employment
2015-present: Lecturer, School of Psychology, Cardiff University.
2011-2015: Behavioural Neuroscience Research Group, School of Psychology, Cardiff University. BBSRC and Wellcome Trust funded post-doc positions
2008-2010 – School of Psychology, University of Nottingham. Wellcome Trust funded post doc position.
Anrhydeddau a Dyfarniadau
Awards/external committees
2006 Hadyn Ellis Prize for Outstanding Dissertation
2020
- Powell, A.et al. 2020. Stable encoding of visual cues in the mouse retrosplenial cortex. Cerebral Cortex (10.1093/cercor/bhaa030)
2019
- Mathiasen, M.et al. 2019. Trajectory of hippocampal fibres to the contralateral anterior thalamus and mammillary bodies in rats, mice, and macaque monkeys. Brain and Neuroscience Advances 3, pp. 1-18. (10.1177/2398212819871205)
- Mathiasen, M. L.et al. 2019. Separate cortical and hippocampal cell populations target the rat nucleus reuniens and mammillary bodies. European Journal of Neuroscience 49(12), pp. 1649-1672. (10.1111/ejn.14341)
- Kinnavane, L.et al. 2019. Do the rat anterior thalamic nuclei contribute to behavioural flexibility?. Behavioural Brain Research 359, pp. 536-549. (10.1016/j.bbr.2018.10.012)
- Morgan, J.et al. 2019. Determining patient outcomes from patient letters: A comparison of text analysis approaches. Journal of the Operational Research Society 70(9), pp. 1425-1439. (10.1080/01605682.2018.1506559)
2018
- Cassaday, H. and Nelson, A. 2018. The neuropharmacology of what, where, when: How dopamine modulates recognition memory for objects and their contexts. In: Ennaceur, A. and de Souza Silva, M. eds. Handbook of object novelty recognition: Handbook of behavioral neuroscience., Vol. 26. Elsevier Academic Press, pp. 359-369.
- Powell, A.et al. 2018. Lesions of retrosplenial cortex spare immediate-early gene activity in related limbic regions in the rat. Brain and Neuroscience Advances 2, pp. 1-15. (10.1177/2398212818811235)
- Vann, S. and Nelson, A. 2018. Anterior thalamic nuclei lesions have a greater impact than mammillothalamic tract lesions on the extended hippocampal system: a reply. Hippocampus 28(10), pp. 691-693. (10.1002/hipo.22953)
- Nelson, A.et al. 2018. Anterior thalamic nuclei, but not retrosplenial cortex, lesions abolish latent inhibition in rats. Behavioral Neuroscience 132(5), pp. 378-387. (10.1037/bne0000265)
- Nelson, A.et al. 2018. When is the rat retrosplenial cortex required for stimulus integration?. Behavioral Neuroscience 132(5), pp. 366-377. (10.1037/bne0000267)
- Mitchell, A. S.et al. 2018. Retrosplenial cortex and its role in spatial cognition. Brain and Neuroscience Advances 2, pp. 1-13. (10.1177/2398212818757098)
- Kinnavane, L.et al. 2018. Collateral projections innervate the mammillary bodies and retrosplenial cortex: a new category of hippocampal cells. eNeuro 5(1), article number: e0383-17.2018. (10.1523/ENEURO.0383-17.2018)
2017
- Powell, A. L.et al. 2017. The rat retrosplenial cortex as a link for frontal functions: a lesion analysis. Behavioural Brain Research 335, pp. 88-102. (10.1016/j.bbr.2017.08.010)
- Nelson, A. J. D. and Vann, S. D. 2017. The importance of mammillary body efferents for recency memory: towards a better understanding of diencephalic amnesia. Brain Structure and Function 222(5), pp. 2143-2156. (10.1007/s00429-016-1330-x)
- Powell, A. L.et al. 2017. The retrosplenial cortex and object recency memory in the rat. European Journal of Neuroscience 45(11), pp. 1451-1464. (10.1111/ejn.13577)
2016
- Patitucci, E.et al. 2016. The origins of individual differences in how learning is expressed in rats: a general-process perspective. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition 42(4), pp. 313-324. (10.1037/xan0000116)
- Nelson, A.et al. 2016. Perirhinal cortex lesions that impair object recognition memory spare landmark discriminations. Behavioural Brain Research 313, pp. 255-259. (10.1016/j.bbr.2016.07.031)
- Aggleton, J. P.et al. 2016. Thalamic pathology and memory loss in early Alzheimer’s disease: moving the focus from the medial temporal lobe to Papez circuit. Brain 139(7), pp. 1877-1890. (10.1093/brain/aww083)
2015
- Dillingham, C. M.et al. 2015. How do mammillary body inputs contribute to anterior thalamic function?. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 54, pp. 108-119. (10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.07.025)
- Aggleton, J. P. and Nelson, A. J. D. 2015. Why do lesions in the rodent anterior thalamic nuclei cause such severe spatial deficits?. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 54, pp. 131-144. (10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.08.013)
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2015. What does spatial alternation tell us about retrosplenial cortex function?. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 9, article number: 126. (10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00126)
- Wright, N. F.et al. 2015. A critical role for the anterior thalamus in directing attention to task-relevant stimuli. Journal of Neuroscience 35(14), pp. 5480-5488. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4945-14.2015)
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2015. The effect of retrosplenial cortex lesions in rats on incidental and active spatial learning. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 9, article number: 11. (10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00011)
- Vann, S. D. and Nelson, A. J. D. 2015. The mammillary bodies and memory: more than a hippocampal relay. In: O'Mara, S. and Tsanov, M. eds. Progress in Brain Research. The Connected Hippocampus Elsevier, pp. 163-185.
- Vann, S. D. and Nelson, A. J. D. 2015. The mammillary bodies and memory. Progress in Brain Research 219, pp. 163-185. (10.1016/bs.pbr.2015.03.006)
2014
- Thur, K. E., Nelson, A. J. D. and Cassaday, H. J. 2014. Ro 04-6790-induced cognitive enhancement: No effect in trace conditioning and novel object recognition procedures in adult male Wistar rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 127, pp. 42-48. (10.1016/j.pbb.2014.10.006)
- Cassaday, H. J., Nelson, A. J. D. and Pezze, M. A. 2014. From attention to memory along the dorsal-ventral axis of the medial prefrontal cortex: some methodological considerations. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 8, article number: 160. (10.3389/fnsys.2014.00160)
- Nelson, A. J. D. and Vann, S. D. 2014. Mammilliothalamic tract lesions disrupt tests of visuo-spatial memory. Behavioral Neuroscience 128(4), pp. 494-503. (10.1037/bne0000001)
- Hindley, E.et al. 2014. The rat retrosplenial cortex is required when visual cues are used flexibly to determine location. Behavioural Brain Research 263, pp. 98-107. (10.1016/j.bbr.2014.01.028)
- Hindley, E. L.et al. 2014. Dysgranular retrosplenial cortex lesions in rats disrupt cross-modal object recognition. Learning and Memory 21(3), pp. 171-179. (10.1101/lm.032516.113)
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2014. A novel role for the rat retrosplenial cortex in cognitive control. Learning and Memory 21(2), pp. 90-97. (10.1101/lm.032136.113)
2013
- Nelson, A. J. D. and Killcross, S. 2013. Accelerated habit formation following amphetamine exposure is reversed by D1, but enhanced by D2, receptor antagonists. Frontiers in Neuroscience 7, article number: 76. (10.3389/fnins.2013.00076)
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2013. Paradoxical effects of low dose MDMA on latent inhibition in the rat. Neuropharmacology 67, pp. 331-336. (10.1016/j.neuropharm.2012.11.012)
2012
- Nelson, A. J. D., Thur, K. E. and Cassaday, H. J. 2012. Dopamine D1 receptor involvement in latent inhibition and overshadowing. The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 15(10), pp. 1513-1523. (10.1017/S1461145711001751)
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2012. Opposing effects of 5,7-DHT lesions to the core and shell of the nucleus accumbens on the processing of irrelevant stimuli. The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 15(4), pp. 485-496. (10.1017/S1461145711000599)
2011
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2011. Dopamine in nucleus accumbens: salience modulation in latent inhibition and overshadowing. Journal of Psychopharmacology 25(12), pp. 1649-1660. (10.1177/0269881110389211)
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2011. Catecholaminergic depletion in nucleus accumbens enhances trace conditioning. Advances in Medical Sciences 56(1), pp. 71-79. (10.2478/v10039-011-0014-2)
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2011. The effect of catecholaminergic depletion within the prelimbic and infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex on recognition memory for recency, location, and objects. Behavioral Neuroscience 125(3), pp. 396-403. (10.1037/a0023337)
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2011. Reduced dopamine function within the medial shell of the nucleus accumbens enhances latent inhibition. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 98(1), pp. 1-7. (10.1016/j.pbb.2010.11.025)
- Nelson, A. J. D., Kantini, E. and Cassaday, H. J. 2011. An associative analysis of Tourette Syndrome. In: Haselgrove, M. and Hogarth, L. eds. Clinical Applications of Learning Theory. Psychology Press, pp. 179-201.
2010
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2010. Dissociable roles of dopamine within the core and medial shell of the nucleus accumbens in memory for objects and place. Behavioral Neuroscience 124(6), pp. 789-799. (10.1037/a0021114)
- Nelson, A. J. D.et al. 2010. Catecholaminergic depletion within the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex enhances latent inhibition. Neuroscience 170(1), pp. 99-106. (10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.06.066)
2008
- Haselgrove, M.et al. 2008. Analysis of an ambiguous-feature discrimination. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 61(11), pp. 1710-1752. (10.1080/17470210701680746)
2006
- Killcross, A. S. and Nelson, A. J. D. 2006. Amphetamine exposure enhances habit formation. Journal of Neuroscience 26(14), pp. 3805-3812. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4305-05.2006)
- Nelson, A. J. 2006. Behavioural and neurochemical analysis of stimulus-response habits in rats. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2005
- Cassaday, H. J., Nelson, A. J. D. and Norman, C. 2005. Haloperidol can increase responding to both discrete and contextual cues in trace conditioned rats. Behavioural Brain Research 158(1), pp. 31-42. (10.1016/j.bbr.2004.08.014)
Funding
BBSRC Research Grant “Stimulus processing and cognitive control by the retrosplenial cortex”.(with John Aggleton, Seralynne Vann, Frank Sengpiel; 3 years from October 2014; £554,000)
Research collaborators
Prof John Aggelton, Cardiff University
Dr Seralynne Vann, Cardiff University
Dr Helen Cassaday, University of Nottingham
Postgraduate research interests
If you are interested in applying for a PhD, or for further information regarding my postgraduate research, please contact me directly (contact details available on the 'Overview' page), or submit a formal application.
Media activities
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