Edinburgh Neuroscience

03/10/2026

02/10/2026

We highly recommend this intimate and moving blog post about Chloe’s experience as a dementia researcher, navigating the realities of caring and advocating for her mother and the reverberating effects:
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-when-your-research-becomes-your-reality/

01/10/2026

🧠 Meet one of our 300 Faces: Professor Tara Spires-Jones

As draws to a close, we're spotlighting Professor Tara Spires-Jones and her work to understand the brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Tara’s fundamental discoveries in the lab have been instrumental in developing future therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer’s disease and similar diseases.

Talking to us about being selected as one of our 300 Faces, Tara told us:

“It’s an honour to be recognised in Edinburgh Medical School’s 300th anniversary celebration, particularly during World Alzheimer’s month.

In addition to our research into the brain changes that cause dementias, I enjoy discussing neuroscience research with the public and with people affected by neurodegenerative diseases. If you want to learn more about our work and the wider field of dementia research, my book 'Fighting for our Minds' is released this month”

👉 Read Tara’s story and discover more of our 300 Faces of Edinburgh Medical School: https://edin.ac/4r5GSlv

01/10/2026

A clinical trial is set to test whether diet could help reduce depressive symptoms in people with bipolar disorder, comparing a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet with standard NHS healthy eating advice.

ENERGISE-BD, led by the University of Edinburgh and University of Birmingham, will recruit some 200 people with the condition to better understand how nutrition might support mental health.

If successful, the findings could point to a new treatment approach for people living with bipolar disorder, experts from the Institute for Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Research say.

Read more by clicking on the link below 👇

31/08/2026

As promised, announcing the prize winners for Friday’s SNG Meeting poster competition:

Abbey Begen from the University of Glasgow for ‘Mapping Muscarinic Circuits: Unravelling mAChR1 and mAChR4 Expression and Connectivity in the Brain’; and

Jack Webster from the University of Edinburgh for ‘Altered axonal initial segment development links circuit-level and Kv7 potassium channel dysfunction in an Fmr1 knockout rat’

The prizes were presented by Keith Sillar, Emeritus Professor (University of St Andrews) and a great bastion of SNG for almost 40 years!

The original photo is somewhat obscured by the projector lighting so we had a little chuckle when meta threw out the AI ‘enhanced’ Pixar moment and decided to run with it for a Monday morning jolly! Congratulations Abbey and Jack 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

28/08/2026

Today, we are delighted to be hosting the Scottish Neuroscience Group Meeting 2026 (SNG)! This annual gathering brings together Neuroscience researchers from across Scotland’s universities to discuss new data, to forge new collaborations as well as friendships. 🤝

Included in the programme are lots of talks from ECRs as well as an impressive range of poster presentations (prize winner to be announced later)!

Thank you so much to to our speakers:
Britt van de Gevel, Mirna Merkler, PhD, Zofia Laszlo, Anna Stuckert, Diptendu Mukherjee, Christabel Kouame, Tasnim Alamgir Hussain, Max K.
Sophie Rappich, Holly Spence, Paige Windmill, Abbey Begen, Isla Barnard
Jack Hunter, Pierce Mullen, Laura Blaikie, Tatiana Langerová, Paul Donlin-Asp, Lukas Jurcaga

Special mention for our invited speaker, Matthew Grubb, delivering: ‘Polarity, plasticity, and transmitter release in some really weird dopaminergic neurons’. 👌

And last but not least, thank you to our sponsors today: , Bio-Techne, Campden Instruments, VectorBuilder and 10x Genomics

21/08/2026

Teenagers who are subjected to online bullying are at greater risk of later emotional and behavioural difficulties, research suggests.

Young people who experienced cyberbullying were more likely to develop emotional and behavioural problems over the following six months if the experience led to feelings of loneliness and difficulties managing their emotions, a study shows.

The School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh research is published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Tap the link in comments to read the article 👇

16/07/2026

Take Scotland’s top academics, contentious research, add a comedian and it’s the force of nature that is The Provocateurs - a staple of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 2013.

Over a dozen of our colleagues from across the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine are taking part in The Provocateurs this Edinburgh Fringe, and you’ll find them at the Stand Comedy Club.

Brought to you this year in association with Edinburgh Medical School 300, subjects under discussion include women's health, the neuroscience of anxiety, molecular matchmaking, artificial wombs, fighting disinformation, dermatology, zebrafish and declining fertility.

Booking for all shows is now open. Shows begin from 8 August and continue throughout the duration of the Fringe.

Book your tickets ➡ https://www.thestand.co.uk/whats-on/show-tag/159/TheProvocateursFringe2026

16/07/2026

Children born prematurely are more likely to underachieve in the first years of school than those born at full term, particularly among those born or living in the most deprived areas, a study suggests ✏️

More than half of children born before 32 weeks were not ready for school at five years of age, including in areas such as communication and language, and physical and emotional development.

Children born in the most deprived areas had up to two times the risk of under attainment compared with those born in the least deprived areas.

Strategies to reduce social inequalities, promote brain health and increase support for preterm children during the transition to school are vital to improve outcomes, experts say.

Click the link in comments for more on the story 👇