Dementia encompasses a group of disorders that impair mental function. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of this. Researchers at the Dorothy Hodgkin Building are looking to both improve our understanding of the disease process and to identify possible therapies.

Synaptic plasticity is fundamental to learning and memory, and the physiological and molecular mechanisms of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) are being studied by Professors Collingridge’s and Cho’s groups.

Professor Uney’s group use viral delivery techniques to investigate the genes that regulate neuronal function in health and disease.

Dr Caldwell’s group is using neuronal stem cells as experimental models and potential therapeutics.

Dr Allen’s group is studying the neurotrophins, a family of growth factors important in support of hippocampal and cholinergic basal forebrain neurons, and in memory formation.