University of Exeter Medical School

Dr Tom Ridler

Dr Tom Ridler

Lecturer in Neuroscience

 T.Ridler@exeter.ac.uk

 6752

 01392 726752

 Hatherly D12

 

Hatherly Building, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4PS, UK

Overview

Tom received an undergraduate masters (MSci) in ‘Neuroscience with study in industry’ from the University of Bristol, during which time he spent a year working at Eli Lilly on new drug targets for cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s and Schizophrenia. He moved to Exeter as a PhD student under the supervision of Dr Jon Brown and Prof Andrew Randall after which he took up a role as a postdoctoral researcher in the Exeter applied Neurophysiology group investigating entorhinal cortex dysfunction in rodent models of dementia. In 2020 he was appointed associate lecturer in Neuroscience.

Tom is interested in how neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy produce changes to neuronal networks that ultimately affect cognitive processes. He uses both in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological methods to measure the activity of neurons, either at the level of single-cells or through large-scale neuronal networks. His work has focused on the medial entorhinal cortex, one of the first areas to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease pathology, which is which is essential for processing spatial information.

Qualifications

  • MSci Neuroscience with study in industry (University of Bristol)
  • PhD Medical Studies (University of Exeter)

Links

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Publications

Journal articles

Lankhuijzen LM, Ridler T (2024). Opioids, microglia, and temporal lobe epilepsy. Frontiers in Neurology, 14 Abstract.
Ridler T, Witton J, Phillips KG, Randall A, Brown JT (2023). Correction: Impaired speed encoding and grid cell periodicity in a mouse model of tauopathy. Elife, 12  Author URL.
Walsh C, Ridler T, Margetts-Smith G, Garcia Garrido M, Witton J, Randall AD, Brown JT (2022). β Bursting in the Retrosplenial Cortex is a Neurophysiological Correlate of Environmental Novelty Which is Disrupted in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease. The Journal of Neuroscience, 42(37), 7094-7109.
Walsh C, Ridler T, Garrido MG, Witton J, Randall AD, Brown JT (2021). Beta bursting in the retrosplenial cortex is a neurophysiological correlate of environmental novelty which is disrupted in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Abstract.
Creaser J, Lin C, Ridler T, Brown JT, D’Souza W, Seneviratne U, Cook M, Terry JR, Tsaneva-Atanasova K (2020). Domino-like transient dynamics at seizure onset in epilepsy. PLOS Computational Biology, 16(9), e1008206-e1008206. Abstract.  Author URL.
Ridler T, Witton J, Phillips KG, Randall AD, Brown JT (2020). Impaired speed encoding and grid cell periodicity in a mouse model of tauopathy. eLife, 9 Abstract.
Ridler T, Witton J, Phillips KG, Randall AD, Brown JT (2019). Impaired speed encoding is associated with reduced grid cell periodicity in a mouse model of tauopathy. Abstract.
Ridler T, Brown JT (2019). O3‐07‐04: IMPAIRED NEURAL CODE OF SPATIAL INFORMATION IN a MOUSE MODEL OF TAU PATHOLOGY. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 15(7S_Part_17), p899-p899.
Garrido MG, Ridler T, Terry J, Brown JT (2019). P2‐243: IMPAIRMENTS IN NEURAL CORRELATES OF CONTEXTUAL MEMORY IN a MOUSE MODEL OF AMYLOIDOPATHY. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 15(7S_Part_13).
Ridler T, Matthews P, Phillips KG, Randall AD, Brown JT (2018). Initiation and slow propagation of epileptiform activity from ventral to dorsal medial entorhinal cortex is constrained by an inhibitory gradient. J Physiol, 596(11), 2251-2266. Abstract.  Author URL.
Newton AJH, Seidenstein AH, McDougal RA, Pérez-Cervera A, Huguet G, M-Seara T, Haimerl C, Angulo-Garcia D, Torcini A, Cossart R, et al (2017). 26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3. BMC Neuroscience, 18(S1).
Booth CA, Ridler T, Murray TK, Ward MA, de Groot E, Goodfellow M, Phillips KG, Randall AD, Brown JT (2016). Electrical and Network Neuronal Properties Are Preferentially Disrupted in Dorsal, But Not Ventral, Medial Entorhinal Cortex in a Mouse Model of Tauopathy. J Neurosci, 36(2), 312-324. Abstract.  Author URL.

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Teaching

Tom primarily teaches on the BSc Neuroscience course. He has experience teaching on a wide array of modules across all academic years, using a variety of delivery methods:

  • Final Year Academic lead for BSc Neuroscience
  • Module lead: NEU2001: Advanced methods in Neuroscience (30-credit module focussing on Neuroscience methods) and NEU2002: Brain and Behaviour (15-credit module focussing on bridging the gap between synaptic physiology and animal behaviour).
  • Lecturer: Gives lectures across all years of the Neuroscience BSc course, focussing primarily on Neuropharmacology (NEU1006, NEU2019), Brain networks and Behaviour (NEU2002, NEU2018) and Neuroimaging and therapeutics (NEU3030)
  • Final year project supervisor: Runs several final year research projects each year, as well as supervising critical reviews on a variety of Neuroscience topics (NEU3001). 
  • Small group facilitator:  Runs small groups in Advanced methods in Neuroscience (NEU2001) and journal club/tutorial sessions in Frontiers in Neuroscience (NEU3008). Also runs special study unit (SSU) for first year BMBS (3-week unit on ‘The Inner GPS of the Brain: How Cognitive Maps Influence Health and Disease’).

Modules

2023/24


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