Prof. Miles Whittington
Professor of Neuroscience
- Email: m.a.whittington@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44(0)191 222 5340
- Fax: +44(0)191 222 5227
- Address: School of Neurology, Neurobiology & Psychiatry (Neurobiology)
The Medical School
Framlington Place
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE2 4HH
My group has a major interest in mechanisms that generate oscillatory activity with neural networks, how this activity is sustained and how is modulated in various normal and pathological conditions.
Research Interests
My primary research focus is on the mechanisms underlying neuronal network behaviour. My group has developed and characterized a number of in vitro models of EEG rhythms which allow greater understanding of network mechanisms underlying neuronal population behaviour associated with sensory processing.
Selected Publications
- Gloveli T, Dugladze T, Rotstein HG, Traub RD, Monyer H, Heinemann U, Whittington MA, Kopell NJ. Orthogonal arrangement of rhythm-generating microcircuits in the hippocampus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 2005, 102(37), 13295-13300.
- GLOVELI, T.; DUGLADZE, T.; SAHA, S.; MONYER, H.; HEINEMANN, U.; TRAUB, R.D.; WHITTINGTON, M.A.; BUHL E.H. Differential involvement of oriens/pyramidale interneurones in hippocampal network oscillations in vitro. J. Physiol 2005, 562(1), 131-147.
- TRAUB, R.D.; BIBBIG, A.; LEBEAU, F.E.; CUNNINGHAM, M.O.; WHITTINGTON, M.A. Persistent gamma oscillations in superficial layers of rat auditory neocortex: experiment and model. J. Physiol 2005, 562(1), 3-8.
- TRAUB, R.D.; CONTRERAS, D.; CUNNINGHAM, M.O.; MURRAY, H.; LEBEAU, F.E.; ROOPUN, A.; BIBBIG, A.; WILENT, W.B.; HIGLEY, M.J.; WHITTINGTON, M.A. Single-column thalamocortical network model exhibiting gamma oscillations, sleep spindles, and epileptogenic bursts. J. Neurophysiol 2005, 93(4), 2194-2232.
- Traub RD, Pais I, Bibbig A, Lebeau FE, Buhl EH, Garner H, Monyer H, Whittington MA. Transient Depression of Excitatory Synapses on Interneurons Contributes to Epileptiform Bursts During Gamma Oscillations in the Mouse Hippocampal Slice. Journal of Neurophysiology 2005, 94(2), 1225-1235.
- CUNNINGHAM, M.O.; WHITTINGTON, M.A.; BIBBIG, A.; ROOPUN, A.; LEBEAU, F.E.; VOGT, A.; MONYER, H.; BUHL, E.H.; TRAUB, R.D. A role for fast rhythmic bursting neurons in cortical gamma oscillations in vitro. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2004, 101(18), 7152-7157.
Background
My background is in Pharmacology (BSc Hons. Bristol, 1987) and my postgraduate resarch was carried out on the role of dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium channels in neuronal hyperexcitability during ethanol withdrawal, under the supervision of Dr Hilary Little (PhD Bristol, 1990). Neuronal excitability states remained a theme for my post-doctoral work carried out with John Jefferys at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School and Imperial College London where I focused on the generation and propagation of epileptiform activity in brain slices in vitro. My more recent work at Imperial College London (1995-1999) and Leeds University (1999-2005) has focused on aspects of physiological network rhythms of cognitive relevance.
