Research groups
Colleges
Rogier Mars
Professor of Neurosciences
- MRC Senior Non-clinical Fellow
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 organisation. 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 organisation 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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Volatility-driven learning in human infants.
Journal article
Poli F. et al, (2025), Sci Adv, 11
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Cross-species Standardised Cortico-Subcortical Tractography.
Preprint
Assimopoulos S. et al, (2025)
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Connectivity profile and function of uniquely human cortical areas.
Journal article
Bryant KL. et al, (2025), J Neurosci, 45
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Imaging the structural connectome with hybrid MRI-microscopy tractography.
Journal article
Zhu S. et al, (2025), Med Image Anal, 102
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Predictive Methods and Probabilistic Mapping of Subcortical Brain Components in Fossil Carnivora.
Journal article
Baer E. et al, (2025), J Comp Neurol, 533