Our brain is responsible for sensorimotor control and a vast range of cognitive abilities, yet most of its activity is not evoked by sensory inputs or behaviour but is intrinsically and spontaneously generated. The internal, ongoing neural activity persists from early stages of in utero development, including during sleep or under anaesthesia, and is responsible for most of the energy consumed by the brain. Furthermore, many neurological conditions, such as epilepsy, are disorders of the intrinsic brain activity. 

To understand the meaning and functions of resting-state activity in the brain, and in the cortex in particular, we are studying how it is organised at the level of single neurons, microcircuits and areas, using a range of neurophysiological and computational approaches.

We are based in the School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham (with a secondary affiliation at University of Sheffield).