We investigate the mechanisms through which the brain responds to different environmental stimuli.

The research groups of Stafford Lightman, Hans Reul, Astrid Linthorst, Stephen Lolait and Anne-Maire O'Carroll have major interests in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and how this responds to stress, exercise and altered time cues.

The groups of Graham Collingridge and Kei Cho investigate how changes in HPA activity alter mechanisms of synaptic plasticity.

David Murphy's group investigates the transcriptomic responses to osmotic and cardiovascular stimuli and Craig McArdle the responses of the reproductive hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis.