Dr Szu-Han Wang
BBSRC New Investigator Fellow

Background
- BBSRC New Investigator Award, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh
- Caledonian research fellow, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, University of Edinburgh
- Postdoc, Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, University of Edinburgh
- Postdoc, Programs in Mental Health and Neurosciences, the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
- PhD, Psychology, McGill University, Montreal
- MSc, BSc, Psychology (minor in Education), National Cheng-Chi University, Taipei
Research summary
I am passionate about understanding how learning and memory is formed and its underlying brain mechanisms.
Currently, I am investigating how peri-learning events affect memory persistence (Fig 1), how prior experience affects subsequent learning, and how memory consolidation (Fig 2) and reconsolidation (Fig 3) occur in the brain (focusing on the hippocampus, amygdala, and frontal cortex).
Together, these studies point to an integrated perspective on the learning and memory process instead of treating it as an isolated event. This view has major implication in translating preclinical models to clinical studies and in stimulating treatments for memory-related disorders.
My research involves multiple approaches that include developing and implementing behavioural models, central and peripheral cannulation or catheterisation, pharmacological application, and in vivo (functional MRI) and in vitro (immunohistochemistry) bran imaging.
Collaborators
- Prof Megan Holmes, Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh
- Dr Masanori Sakaguchi, Associate Professor, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Japan
Sources of funding
- BBSRC
- Caledonian Research Foundation/ Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Wellcome Trust- Institutional strategic support fund
- Royal Society research grant
-
Impairment in novelty-promoted memory via behavioral tagging and capture before apparent memory loss in a knock-in model of Alzheimer’s disease
In:
Scientific Reports, vol. 12
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26113-1
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Lose the fear and boost the everyday memory through memory destabilisation and reconsolidation
In:
Brain Research Bulletin, vol. 190, pp. 134-139
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2022.09.019
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Behavioral and Cellular Tagging in Young and in Early Cognitive Aging
In:
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, vol. 14
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2022.809879
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Sparse Activity of Hippocampal Adult-Born Neurons during REM Sleep Is Necessary for Memory Consolidation
(24 pages)
In:
Neuron, vol. 107, pp. 552-565.E10
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.05.008
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The striatum, the hippocampus, and short-term memory binding: Volumetric analysis of the subcortical grey matter's role in mild cognitive impairment
(13 pages)
In:
NeuroImage: Clinical, vol. 25
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.102158
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)