- Professor Emeritus Psychology
We investigate the functions of the hippocampus in animals by correlating EEG activity in the hippocampus with both learned and natural behaviour (e.g. sexual behaviour, maternal behaviour, etc.) and by examining discrete lesion effects on both the EEG activity of the hippocampus and on the behaviour of the animal. We attempt to determine the input-output pathways of the hippocampus as well as the nature of the correlation between sensory input, motor output and theta activity in the hippocampus.
We also assess the effects of environmental neurotoxins on learning and memory. Our research involves an examination of the effects of low dose exposure to hydrogen sulfide of the electrical activity of the brain in rats. We are also examining the effects of these same exposures on learning and memory in rats and cattle.
We perform behavioural assessment of tactile and visual processing in people with brain pathology. In this research we are measuring the interhemispheric transfer times in MS and Parkinson patients. The technique may provide a useful, early, non-invasive diagnostic tool for both disorders.
NSERC
Hippocampal Functions
Neurotoxicology