Professor Shane O'Mara

I am Professor of Experimental Brain Research in Trinity College Dublin, and am a Principal Investigator in, and was the Director of, the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience from 209-2016; I am a member of the academic staff of the School of Psychology. I was an undergraduate and postgraduate at NUI Galway (BA, MA). I undertook my doctoral work (DPhil) at the University of Oxford. I am a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin (FTCD) and a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (FAPS). I was also elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA). Research Focus: My academic research concerns the brain systems supporting learning and memory, and how they are affected by stress and depression; I also explore the intersection of psychology and neuroscience with policy, evidence-based policy-making and related areas. To borrow a phrase, I am interested in understanding how `the brain meets the world". I have published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers since 1993 in leading international journals, in addition to having written 4 full-length monographs. I have also edited many special issues of journals and books. Research Support and Research Funding: My research work has been or currently is supported by the Wellcome Trust; Science Foundation Ireland; the Health Research Board; the European Commission; GlaxoSmithKline; Alkermes. I blog at www.brainpizza.com, mostly on neuroscience-, psychology-, science- and public policy-related themes (and maybe the intersection of all of these themes, but sometimes on other things entirely).

  ACTIVATED PROTEIN-KINASE   ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE   AMINO-ACID RECEPTORS   AMMONS HORN   ANATOMICAL DATA   ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX   ANTERIOR THALAMIC NUCLEI   ARACHIDONIC-ACID   AREA CA1   BDNF   BDNF PROTECTS   BEHAVIORAL STRESS   Biology of learning, memory and cognition   CA1   CALCIUM   CHRONIC NEUROINFLAMMATION   COGNITIVE MAPS   COMPLEX-SPIKE CELLS   CORTEX   CUE CONTROL   CYTOKINES   DENTATE GYRUS   DEPOTENTIATION   DISORIENTATION   EFFERENT CONNECTIONS   ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICALLY-DEFINED CLASSES   ENTORHINAL CORTEX   ENVIRONMENT   FIRING PATTERNS   FIRING PROPERTIES   FREELY-MOVING   FRONTAL-CORTEX   GYRUS IN-VITRO   HEAD DIRECTION CELLS   HIGH-FREQUENCY STIMULATION   HIPPOCAMPAL   HIPPOCAMPAL AREA CA1   HIPPOCAMPAL FORMATION   HIPPOCAMPAL SLICES   HIPPOCAMPUS   IN-VIVO   LASTING POTENTIATION   LEARNING AND MEMORY   LESIONS   LONG-TERM POTENTIATION   MESSENGER-RNA   METHYL-D-ASPARTATE   NEURONS   PAIRED-PULSE FACILITATION   PARIETAL CORTEX   PATH INTEGRATION   PLACE NAVIGATION   PLASTICITY   POTENTIATION   RAT   RAT HIPPOCAMPUS   RATS   SLICES   SPATIAL MEMORY   SUBICULUM   SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION   WATER MAZE

Research: My research concerns the brain systems supporting learning and memory, and how they are affected by stress and depression; to borrow a phrase, I am interested in understanding how `the brain meets the world". One major focus of my research are the cognitive and memory systems of the brain and how these are impacted by stress and depression. This work resulted in many publications, including a landmark paper (Aggleton and O"Mara, 2022) positing a `tripartite model" of the brain systems supporting episodic memory. My other major research focus concerns the behavioural and brain sciences and public policy. I have focused particularly on the neuroscience of torture, where I can apply my knowledge of brain, cognitive, and physiological function. This work started with a high-profile paper (O"Mara, 2009), which led to many interviews and press pieces. Many other papers followed, and a Harvard University Press monograph: Why Torture Doesn't Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, widely reviewed as a landmark work in torture by philosophers, lawyers, political scientists, and practitioners. It is cited in evidence in cases involving torture, most particular in Guantanamo Bay, and the Reports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. Key Research Question: How does the brain change as a result of experience? To investigate this general problem, I have adopted multidisciplinary techniques from diverse disciplines (e.g. neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, behavioural analysis, neuroimmunology). Techniques routinely used in my research group include: in vivo neurophysiology in freely-moving/anaesthetised rat (field potentials/action potential recordings of single neurons/neuronal ensembles); neurobehavioural assays (automated water, radial, open field; object exploration, odour discrimination, etc.); brain protein assays (BDNF; prostaglandins); radioimmunoassays; neurohistology.