Caswell Barry @caswell - Bluesky Profile

Well this is a pretty dark even by their usual standards

16.02.2026 16:32 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Really nice work from the Kentros lab — repeating chemogenetic manipulation of grid cells produces the same place cell remapping each time. Direct evidence that grid subfield rate changes predictably drive place field reorganisation. Love it https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.10.705142

16.02.2026 11:31 — 👍 20 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 1

Happy 200th to the godless institution in Gower Street. Still going. Still godless. @ucl.bsky.social #UCL200

11.02.2026 14:23 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thank you!

10.02.2026 14:51 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

MRC have confirmed panels will make "a reduced number of awards to applications currently being assessed" across all four research boards. We're among those with applications currently under review. Full details: ukri.org/blog/mrc-funding-update/

10.02.2026 12:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I understand UKRI's need to restructure, but MRC reducing awards for applications already under review feels like a retrospective rule change. Applicants invested serious time based on expected success rates. Changing the deal after submission breaks a social contract.

10.02.2026 12:53 — 👍 11 🔁 1 💬 2 📌 0

Disrupted hippocampal replay is associated with reduced offline map stabilization in an Alzheimer’s mouse model Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by progressive memory decline associated with hippocampal degeneration. However, the specific physiological mecha…

Memory consolidates during resting periods 💤. Place cells replay activity that occurred during exploration. @caswell.bsky.social shows that replay events are disrupted in alzheimer's mouse models linked to reduced 🗺️ stabilization. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@currentbiology.bsky.social

03.02.2026 07:54 — 👍 19 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1

What drives the sequential emergence of spatial neurons in developing rats? In our ICLR 2026 paper, we show how changes in movement statistics drive spatial tuning. Our model replicates experimental timelines and predicts novel conjunctive tuning maturation.
doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.30.696864

03.02.2026 11:04 — 👍 18 🔁 8 💬 2 📌 2

How the brain's 'memory replay' goes wrong in Alzheimer's disease Memory dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease may be linked to impairment in how the brain replays our recent experiences while we are resting, according to a new study in mice by UCL scientists.

How the brain's 'memory replay' goes wrong in Alzheimer's disease
@ucl press release on @caswell.bsky.social lab new study:

www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/ja...

04.02.2026 16:41 — 👍 25 🔁 10 💬 0 📌 0

Thanks!

03.02.2026 15:21 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

God I need to learn to spell

03.02.2026 12:03 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Really excited by this awesome work from @abrate.bsky.social TDLR - in self supervised predictive models policy really affects representations. If you use policy extracted from rats of different ages the representations that emerge mirror those in the rats.

03.02.2026 11:27 — 👍 19 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

Also tagging the first author. @shipleysj.bsky.social

03.02.2026 11:20 — 👍 22 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0

Disrupted hippocampal replay is associated with reduced offline map stabilization in an Alzheimer’s mouse model Shipley et al. show that spatial memory deficits in an Alzheimer’s mouse model are associated with place cell instability and degraded reactivations in rest. Although reactivation rates are preserved,...

So happy to finally see this out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We found that disrupted replay structure in an AD model was linked to reduced place cell stability and more repetitive behaviour on a radial maze 🧠 @abrate.bsky.social @caswell.bsky.social #neurosky

tinyurl.com/yx52vzjd

30.01.2026 12:35 — 👍 24 🔁 7 💬 1 📌 1

Decoding medial entorhinal cortical dynamics produces planning-like alternations in hippocampal theta sequences The hippocampus plays a central role in memory and spatial planning. In rodents, theta oscillations (7-12Hz) are associated with active navigation and appear necessary for planning and spatial memory. A key neural mechanism held to support navigational decision making are theta sequences - brief (∼120ms) sequential activations of hippocampal place cells representing trajectories ahead of the animal. Evidence for their role in planning includes their tendency to sample potential future paths at decision points, particularly the left–right sequences observed along the T-maze arms during alternation tasks. However, a recent study challenges this interpretation, proposing that the natural tendency of medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) theta sequences to alternate between leftward and rightward directions might account for the apparent sampling of arms on the T-maze. Given that MEC inputs drive hippocampal activity, this raises the possibility that hippocampal alternations in T-mazes simply reflect intrinsic MEC dynamics rather than active planning. Here, we test this hypothesis by modelling MEC theta sequences in a T-shaped maze and demonstrate that standard Bayesian decoding produces hippocampal theta sequences alternating between maze arms, consistent with experimental observations. Analysis of simultaneous MEC-hippocampal recordings reveals that MEC alternation consistently precedes hippocampus by ∼50ms, suggesting a feedforward, state-independent mechanism. This coordinated MEC-hippocampal left-right alternation occurs not only at choice points but also during inbound trials (where no deliberate choice is required) and at forced-turn corners (where only one path exists). These findings suggest that left-right alternation in hippocampal theta sequences is a ubiquitous phenomenon driven by MEC dynamics, challenging the interpretation that these specifically reflect intentional decision-making or planning processes. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

The full preprint is available here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Huge thanks to my supervisors @clopathlab.bsky.social and @caswell.bsky.social!

Feedback is very welcome!

16.01.2026 20:27 — 👍 7 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

How the brain's 'memory replay' goes wrong in Alzheimer's disease Memory dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease may be linked to impairment in how the brain replays our recent experiences while we are resting, according to a new study in mice by UCL scientists.

Memory dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease may be linked to impairment in how the brain replays our recent experiences while we are resting, according to a new study in mice led by Dr Sarah Shipley @shipleysj.bsky.social and Prof Caswell Barry @caswell.bsky.social @ucllifesciences.bsky.social

30.01.2026 10:53 — 👍 7 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0

Fantastic to see this out, well done @shipleysj.bsky.social - it's a tour de force (the first AD work from our lab too).

30.01.2026 13:28 — 👍 8 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Fellowships, grants and career support – Postdoctoral Fellowships – EMBO Supporting internationally mobile postdoctoral researchers in Europe and around the world

Just flagging the excellent EMBO postdoctoral fellowships (here: www.embo.org/funding/fell...). I would imagine most PIs would be happy to host potential applicants!

12.12.2025 17:27 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Also ... if anyone's looking for Christmas presents for a budding neuroscientist I know a good book. Just sayin'

01.12.2025 10:01 — 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Also ... if anyone's looking for Christmas presents for a budding neuroscientist I know a good book. Just sayin'

01.12.2025 10:01 — 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Books of the Year 2025 Voting Form School Reading List Children's Books of the Year 2025. To take part, vote for one book in each category and press 'submit' at the end of this form. For more information, book synopses and purchasing ...

Wooo! Exciting news - Inside Your Brain - the children's neuroscience book I wrote with @lucyannunwin.bsky.social has been listed in the 2025 Children's book of the year shortlist.

Please vote for us:

tinyurl.com/yhr8vawe

(some of those other books look amazing too)

01.12.2025 10:00 — 👍 13 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0

UCL NeuroAI Talk Series A series of NeuroAI themed talks organised by the UCL NeuroAI community. Talks will continue on a monthly basis.

For our next UCL #NeuroAI online seminar, we are happy to welcome Dr Martin Schrimpf @mschrimpf.bsky.social (EPFL)

🗓️Wed 19 Nov 2025
⏰2-3pm GMT

Neuro -> AI and Back Again: Integrative Models of the Human Brain in Health and Disease

ℹ️ Details / registration: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-neuroa...

17.11.2025 16:26 — 👍 9 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0

Latest research eLife works to improve research communication through open science and open technology innovation

Look at the cool new elifesciences.org website!!

17.11.2025 17:21 — 👍 7 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Annual Lecture: The Paradox of Home by Les Back (11.12.25)
Home is a knife-edge word. Competing forces balance on its edge that either control or open the terms of belonging. It is why home is paradoxical tinyurl.com/3493r8e6

10.11.2025 12:47 — 👍 8 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 2

Reminder this is happening this Wed/Thu. Free spiking neural network conference - registration required (see below).

03.11.2025 15:28 — 👍 9 🔁 9 💬 0 📌 0

This was so much fun and just perfect for Halloween.

29.10.2025 19:02 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Episode 23- Jenny Lange on the gothic history of neuroscience, a Halloween special

In the mood for something sciency and spooky? How about the Halloween special of @uclbrainstories.bsky.social - where me and @caswell.bsky.social talk to @drjlange.bsky.social on some of the gothic stories in neuroscience! 👻 🧠 🎃 💀🧟‍♂️

spotify.link/2lHT9pLQRXb

29.10.2025 18:56 — 👍 7 🔁 8 💬 1 📌 1

Look @lucyannunwin.bsky.social

22.10.2025 15:14 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

This was so much fun - nice to be on the other side of things! Also tagging @lucyannunwin.bsky.social the main author of the awesome Inside Your Brain

22.10.2025 15:13 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Brain Stories Episode 22 Caswell Barry and Lucy Unwin talk about the neuroscience behind their new children’s book – Inside Your Brain Podcast Episode · Brain Stories · 15/10/2025 · 48m

New episode of @uclbrainstories.bsky.social is out! Me & @smfleming.bsky.social chat to our cohost @caswell.bsky.social & Lucy Unwin about their new book “Inside your Brain”. Have a listen & buy the book for any budding young neuroscientists in your life!

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

22.10.2025 06:35 — 👍 11 🔁 6 💬 2 📌 2

Caswell Barry

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