The general aim of our lab's research is to understand how different brain areas contribute to memory for various aspects of an event. Principal methods involve behavioural testing in rats following either surgical brain lesions or treatments that produce widespread neuropathology and memory impairment (e.g., thiamine deficiency, forebrain ischemia).

Characterizing the effects of lesions in different areas of the brain on a variety of object-memory, place-memory and fear-memory abilities has been at the center of research in our lab. Our studies examine anterograde and retrograde memory with a focus on the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex, but also exploring other areas (including postrhinal cortex, mediodorsal and intralaminar thalamic nuclei). Our work has revealed several differences in the mnemonic consequences of damage to different medial-temporal-lobe and thalamic structures.