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Medicine

Dr Robert Munn

PhD

Contact Details

Lecturer below the bar
Human Biology Building
E: robert.munn@nuigalway.ie
 
researcher
 

Biography

Dr. Munn's research is concerned with understanding the functions of learning and memory by investigating the hippocampal/entorhinal circuit. Originally from New Zealand, he received his BSc, MSc and PhD from the University of Otago working with Professor Neil McNaughton in the area of anxiety, and Professor David Bilkey in the area of circadian coding of memory. 

After his PhD, Dr. Munn undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Assoc. Prof. Lisa Giocomo in the department of Neurobiology at Stanford University in California. Here he worked on projects probing the function of Grid Cells in entorhinal cortex, publishing the results of his work in Nature Neuroscience. In 2020 he took up the position of Lecturer (below the bar) in the department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at NUI Galway.

Research Interests

Circuit-level coding of learning and memory in hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. Using the TS65DN mouse model of Down Syndrome to study hippocampal dysfunction and pharmacological rescue of function. Use of the TS65DN model to study coding changes in learning and memory in Alzheimer's disease. Interaction of gustatory hormones such as Leptin and Ghrelin with the hippocampal/entorhinal system.

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2020) 'Entorhinal velocity signals reflect environmental geometry'
Munn, Robert G. K., Mallory, Caitlin S., Hardcastle, Kiah., Chetkovich, Dane M., and Giocomo, Lisa M. (2020) 'Entorhinal velocity signals reflect environmental geometry'. Nature Neuroscience, :1-13 [DOI] [Details]
(2017) 'Circadian-scale periodic bursts in theta and gamma-band coherence between hippocampus, cingulate and insular cortices'
Munn, Robert and Hardcastle, Kiah and Porter, Blake and Bilkey, David (2017) 'Circadian-scale periodic bursts in theta and gamma-band coherence between hippocampus, cingulate and insular cortices'. Neurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, 3 :26-37 [DOI] [Details]
(2016) 'Anxiolytic-like effects of leptin on fixed interval responding'
Tyree, Susan M and Munn, Robert G and McNaughton, Neil (2016) 'Anxiolytic-like effects of leptin on fixed interval responding'. Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior, 148 :15-20 [DOI] [Details]
(2016) 'Trussht me, I know what I sshaw: The acceptance of misinformation from an apparently unreliable co-witness'
Zajac, Rachel and Dickson, Jake and Munn, Robert and O'Neill, Sarah (2016) 'Trussht me, I know what I sshaw: The acceptance of misinformation from an apparently unreliable co-witness'. Legal And Criminological Psychology, 21 (1):127-140 [DOI] [Details]
(2015) 'The frequency of hippocampal theta rhythm is modulated on a circadian period and is entrained by food availability'
Munn, Robert G and Tyree, Susan M and McNaughton, Neil and Bilkey, David K (2015) 'The frequency of hippocampal theta rhythm is modulated on a circadian period and is entrained by food availability'. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 9 [DOI] [Details]
(2012) 'The firing rate of hippocampal CA1 place cells is modulated with a circadian period'
Munn, Robert and Bilkey, David K (2012) 'The firing rate of hippocampal CA1 place cells is modulated with a circadian period'. Hippocampus, 22 (6):1325-37 [DOI] [Details]
(2008) 'Effects of fluoxetine on hippocampal rhythmic slow activity and behavioural inhibition'
Munn, Robert G and McNaughton, Neil (2008) 'Effects of fluoxetine on hippocampal rhythmic slow activity and behavioural inhibition'. Behavioural pharmacology, 19 (3):257-64 [DOI] [Details]

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2014 Neurological Foundation of New Zealand Philip Wrightson Postdoctoral Fellow Neurological Foundation of New Zealand

External Collaborators

  Name Organisation / Institute Country Description of Collaboration
H. Craig Heller Stanford University U.S.A.