Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience

Neuroinflammation

Damage to the nervous system results in non-neuronal cells taking a stage-role. New and exciting roles continue to be discovered for brain-resident immune cells, such as microglia, and for macrophages that are constantly active and checking their environment for signs of injury or infection.

Microglia play key roles in chronic pain, synaptic pruning, and can ultimately mark individual synapses or whole cells for destruction. Genetic analysis indicates links between microglia and diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, chronic pain, and interactions between nerves and immune cells play key roles in the function of our gut.

Our key questions:

What is the role of non-neuronal cells in chronic pain and in neurodegenerative disease?
How do neuroinflammatory changes alter neurons and their connections?
What is the relationship between immune cells and sensory nerves? How do glial cells interact with gut hormones and transmitters?

Click people profiles to discover their research:

Mr Aminul Ahmed

Senior Lecturer in Neurosurgery
Professor David Andersson

Professor of Neuroscience
Dr Kirsty Bannister

Senior Lecturer
Professor Elizabeth Bradbury

Professor of Regenerative Medicine & Neuroplasticity
Professor Helen Cox

Professor of Pharmacology
Dr Franziska Denk

Reader in Neuroscience
Dr Nicola Hamilton-Whitaker

Senior Lecturer
Professor Marzia Malcangio

Professor of Neuropharmacology
Dr Sarah Marzi

Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience
Dr Ryan Patel

Research Fellow
Dr Eugenii Rabiner

Reader in Molecular Neuroimaging
Dr Ivana Rosenzweig

Clinical Reader in the Neuroscience of Sleep
Professor Federico Turkheimer

Professor in Neuroimaging (Analysis & Statistics)
Dr Anthony Vernon

Reader in Neuropsychopharmacology