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In 2005 I graduated from Cardiff University, obtaining a 2:1 class Honours degree in Neurosciences. I then spent some time travelling around Mexico, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. In October 2006 I began my PhD in Professor Crunelli’s laboratory and am now in the process of completing my thesis.
I joined the Vincenzo’s group at the early stage of a project that was aiming at investigate the presence of enhanced tonic GABAA inhibition in thalamocortical cells of the ventrobasal thalamus in various models of typical absence epilepsy. Using in vitro patch clamp technique I studied the effects of pharmacological agents that induce absence seizures in vivo, on tonic GABAA current in vitro. During these experiments I discovered a novel postsynaptic GABAB-GABAA receptor interaction in several brain areas (this work is still ongoing). As my PhD progressed, I learned the experimental methods involved in in vivo EEG recording and using such techniques, I played a critical role in further characterising the function of enhanced thalamic tonic GABAA inhibition in absence epilepsy.
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