Research groups
Colleges
Rogier Mars
BBSRC David Phillips Fellow
- Principal Investigator
I explore what it is that makes brains the way they are. Primates, and especially humans, have exceptionally large brains for their body size. Between primates, brains differ in size and in their internal organization. Why is this? I believe that each brain is an adaptation to the particular environment its owner lives in. I try to understand differences between brains as the result of deviations from ancestral brains that arose to deal with challenges in the environment.
To study these question my group and I use two complementary approaches. First, we study how the human brain is organised and works using a range of non-invasive brain imaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Second, we use magnetic resonance imaging to compare the organizion of different brains. We scan the brains from deceased animals to study the size, location, and connections of different brain regions and compare these between species.
Recent publications
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Imaging evolution of the primate brain: the next frontier?
Journal article
Friedrich P. et al, (2021), Neuroimage, 228
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A Common Space Approach to Comparative Neuroscience.
Journal article
Mars RB. et al, (2021), Annu Rev Neurosci
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A collaborative resource platform for non-human primate neuroimaging.
Journal article
Messinger A. et al, (2021), Neuroimage, 226
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Morphological and functional variability in central and subcentral motor cortex of the human brain
Journal article
Eichert N. et al, (2021), Brain Structure and Function, 226, 263 - 279
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A comprehensive atlas of white matter tracts in the chimpanzee.
Journal article
Bryant KL. et al, (2020), PLoS Biol, 18