Dr Alexander Shaw

Overview

Research summary

My research combines multimodal imaging techniques (e.g. MEG,  EEG, MRI, MRS) with bespoke computational models and machine learning methods to better characterise healthy and diseased brain function across spatial scales. I am particularly interested in understanding the link between synaptic physiology and neural oscillations, theoretical neuroscience and computational psychiatry. 

My experimental studies to date have included the study of psychiatric (MDD, SABP, Schizophrenia) and neurological (frontal-temporal dementia,  progressive supra-nuclear palsy) disorders, as well as investiagting the effects of drugs on the brain, using placebo-controlled pharmacological imaging studies (ketamine, tiagabine, propofol, +). 

My computational studies focus on the development and deployment of novel 'extended neural mass models' to explore the neurobiological mechanisms responsible for the brain signals we record. I have developed an extended, neurophysiologically-informed thalamo-cortical model with realstic receptors, which could allow us to explore receptor (dys)function in brain disorders or while under the influence of drug. I also work on numerical methods for the integration and optimisation of dynamical systems. I post the code for these experiments on github.