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Draft:Caswell Barry

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Caswell Barry
Caswell Barry, 2026
CitizenshipBritish
Alma materNew College, Oxford (BA)
University College London (MSc, PhD)
Known forGrid cells
Place cells
Hippocampal replay
Neuroscience and AI
Scientific career
FieldsNeuroscience
Artificial intelligence
Computational neuroscience
InstitutionsUniversity College London
Thesis Terra Cognita: Representations of Space in the Rodent Hippocampus and Entorhinal Cortex  (2007)
Neil Burgess
Kate Jeffery
Websitebarry-lab.com

Caswell Barry is a British neuroscientist, Professor of Neuroscience and AI at University College London (UCL) and Vice Dean (Research) for UCL's Faculty of Life Sciences.[1] His work bridges experimental neuroscience and artificial intelligence: using rodent electrophysiology, human neuroimaging and computational modelling, he studies how the brain represents space and forms memory, and how the principles uncovered in biological brains can inform—and be informed by—artificial neural networks.[2] Barry is an expert on grid cells. He discovered grid-cell-like signals in the human brain,[3] and demonstrated that analogous cell networks arise in artificial neural networks when such networks are trained to navigate.[4]

Early life and education

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In 1999, Barry graduated from Biological Sciences at New College, Oxford. In 2000, he obtained his MSc degree from UCL. In 2007, Barry obtained his PhD degree, also from UCL, for the research of space encoding in rodent hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, under supervision of Neil Burgess and Kate Jeffery.[1]

Career

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After his doctorate, Barry remained at UCL as a postdoctoral researcher, under supervision of Neil Burgess and John O'Keefe, with whom he published several papers on physiology of grid cells and place cells.[5][6] In 2013, Barry received a UCL Excellence Fellowship, as well as Sir Henry Dale Fellowship. In 2018, he received a Wellcome Senior Research Fellowship.[7] Barry was appointed Professor of Neuroscience and AI in 2019 and Vice Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Life Sciences in 2024.[1] He chairs UCL's NeuroAI Committee and sits on the editorial board of Hippocampus.[8]

Research

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Barry's research initially focused on the newly discovered grid cells in the entorhinal–hippocampal circuit of rodents. Using simultaneous recording—with an array of adjustable microelectrodes—of activity in several neurons of a freely-moving rat, Barry established that the hexagonal grid pattern was not fixed, but could be reshaped by the changes in the environment it represented: grid scale and spacing adapted to the size of an enclosure,[5] the symmetry of the pattern collapses in geometrically polarised spaces,[9] and the firing pattern could be derived theoretically from interference between theta-band neural oscillations.[6] He suggested that the hippocampal place fields are constructed from inputs that encode the distance to, and direction within, environmental boundaries,[10] which he and his colleagues subsequently supported with experimental evidence.[11] In 2010, Barry extended his research to human neuroscience. Using fMRI, he found grid-cell-like signals in the human brain and demonstrated hexagonal modulation in the entorhinal cortex during virtual navigation.[3][12]

Barry's research group showed also that neuronal activity (firing patterns) in hippocampus, first recorded in free movement through the animal's environment, was replayed while the animal was at rest or sleeping.[13] Moreover, they recorded firing patterns, in place cells and grid cells, that represented movement (a trajectory) not yet performed by the animal.[14] Together these findings suggest that replay may underlie both memory consolidation and prospective planning.[15] Barry's group extended this work into Alzheimer's disease. In a mouse model of the disease, hippocampal replay persisted as pathology progressed, but its temporal structure broke down.[16]

Another line of Barry's research involves artificial intelligence. In collaboration with colleagues at DeepMind, he demonstrated that grid-cell-like units emerge spontaneously in recurrent neural networks when trained to perform path integration, and the networks with such units could then plan routes more efficiently.[4] The result was reported in the international press, including the Financial Times,[17] The Guardian,[18] Wired,[19] Quanta Magazine,[20] Scientific American[21] and Nature News.[22]

Public engagement

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Barry writes and speaks about neuroscience for general audiences. In 2025, he co-authored Inside Your Brain, a children's book on how the brain works;[23] it was reviewed by Kirkus Reviews[24] and shortlisted for the School Library Association Children's Non-Fiction Book of the Year.[25] Barry has spoken at the Royal Institution,[26] the Edinburgh Science Festival,[27] Pint of Science[28] and the Caterham Science Festival,[29] and presents UCL's Brain Stories podcast on neuroscience research.[30] Barry is also AI Expert in Residence at the body-composition AI company PHYT.[31]

Selected publications

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  • Doeller, CF; Barry, C; Burgess, N (2010). "Evidence for grid cells in a human memory network". Nature. 463 (7281): 657–661. Bibcode:2010Natur.463..657D. doi:10.1038/nature08704. PMC 3173857. PMID 20090680.
  • Banino, A; Barry, C; Uria, B; et al. (2018). "Vector-based navigation using grid-like representations in artificial agents". Nature. 557 (7705): 429–433. Bibcode:2018Natur.557..429B. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0102-6. PMID 29743670.
  • Whittington, JCR; Muller, TH; Mark, S; Chen, G; Barry, C; Burgess, N; Behrens, TEJ (2020). "The Tolman-Eichenbaum machine". Cell. 183 (5): 1249–1263.e23. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.024. PMC 7707106. PMID 33181068.
  • Krupic, J; Bauza, M; Burton, S; Barry, C; O'Keefe, J (2015). "Grid cell symmetry is shaped by environmental geometry". Nature. 518 (7538): 232–235. Bibcode:2015Natur.518..232K. doi:10.1038/nature14153. PMC 4576734. PMID 25673417.
  • Muessig, L; Ribeiro Rodrigues, F; Bjerknes, TL; et al. (2024). "Environment geometry alters subiculum boundary vector cell receptive fields in adulthood and early development". Nature Communications. 15 (1) 982. Bibcode:2024NatCo..15..982M. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45098-1. PMC 10834499. PMID 38302455.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  • Bellmund, JLS; de Cothi, W; Ruiter, TA; et al. (2020). "Deforming the metric of cognitive maps distorts memory". Nature Human Behaviour. 4 (2): 177–188. doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0767-3. PMID 31740749.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Professor Caswell Barry". University College London. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  2. ↑ Abbott, Alison. "AI Re-Creates Activity Patterns That Brain Cells Use in Navigation". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 Doeller, Christian F.; Barry, Caswell; Burgess, Neil (4 February 2010). "Evidence for grid cells in a human memory network". Nature. 463 (7281): 657–661. doi:10.1038/nature08704. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 3173857. PMID 20090680.
  4. 1 2 Banino, A; Barry, C; et al. (2018). "Vector-based navigation using grid-like representations in artificial agents". Nature. 557 (7705): 429–433. Bibcode:2018Natur.557..429B. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0102-6. PMID 29743670.
  5. 1 2 Barry, C; Hayman, R; Burgess, N; Jeffery, KJ (2007). "Experience-dependent rescaling of entorhinal grids". Nature Neuroscience. 10 (6): 682–684. doi:10.1038/nn1905. PMID 17486102.
  6. 1 2 Burgess, N; Barry, C; O'Keefe, J (2007). "An oscillatory interference model of grid cell firing". Hippocampus. 17 (9): 801–812. doi:10.1002/hipo.20327. PMC 2678278. PMID 17598147.
  7. ↑ "Funding portfolio | Research funding". Wellcome. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "Hippocampus Editorial Board". Wiley. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  9. ↑ Krupic, J; Bauza, M; Burton, S; Barry, C; O'Keefe, J (2015). "Grid cell symmetry is shaped by environmental geometry". Nature. 518 (7538): 232–235. Bibcode:2015Natur.518..232K. doi:10.1038/nature14153. PMC 4756313. PMID 25673417.
  10. ↑ Barry, Caswell; et al. (2006). "The boundary vector cell model of place cell firing and spatial memory". Reviews in the Neurosciences. 17 (1–2): 71–97. doi:10.1515/revneuro.2006.17.1-2.71. ISSN 0334-1763. PMC 2677716. PMID 16703944.
  11. ↑ Muessig, L; Ribeiro Rodrigues, F; Bjerknes, TL; Towse, BW; Barry, C; Burgess, N; Moser, EI; Moser, M-B; Cacucci, F; Wills, TJ (2024). "Environment geometry alters subiculum boundary vector cell receptive fields in adulthood and early development". Nature Communications. 15 (1): 982. Bibcode:2024NatCo..15..982M. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45098-1. PMC 10834499. PMID 38302455.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  12. ↑ Carpenter, F; Manson, D; Jeffery, K; Burgess, N; Barry, C (2015). "Grid cells form a global representation of connected environments". Current Biology. 25 (9): 1176–1182. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.02.037. PMC 4425461. PMID 25913404.
  13. ↑ Ólafsdóttir, HF; Carpenter, F; Barry, C (2016). "Coordinated grid and place cell replay during rest". Nature Neuroscience. 19 (6): 792–794. doi:10.1038/nn.4291. PMID 27089021.
  14. ↑ Ólafsdóttir, HF; Barry, C; Saleem, AB; Hassabis, D; Spiers, HJ (2015). "Hippocampal place cells construct reward related sequences through unexplored space". eLife. 4 e06063. doi:10.7554/eLife.06063. PMC 4492725. PMID 26112828.
  15. ↑ Ólafsdóttir, HF; Bush, D; Barry, C (2018). "The role of hippocampal replay in memory and planning". Current Biology. 28 (1): R37–R50. Bibcode:2018CBio...28..R37O. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.073. PMC 5847173. PMID 29316421.
  16. ↑ "Hippocampal Replay Persists but Loses Structure in Alzheimer's Model". Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. 29 January 2026.
  17. ↑ Cookson, Clive (9 May 2018). "Grid cells in the brain and AI deep reinforcement learning behave in similar ways". Financial Times.
  18. ↑ "Google's AI program DeepMind learns human navigation skills". The Guardian. 9 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "DeepMind's Newest AI Network Mimics the GPS Cells in Your Brain". Wired. 9 May 2018.
  20. ↑ "Artificial Neural Nets Grow Brainlike Navigation Cells". Quanta Magazine. 9 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "AI Re-creates Activity Patterns That Brain Cells Use in Navigation". Scientific American. 10 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "Artificial network demonstrates high-level navigation". Nature. 9 May 2018.
  23. ↑ Unwin, Lucy Ann; Barry, Caswell (2025). Inside Your Brain. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-65380-7.
  24. ↑ "Inside Your Brain". Kirkus Reviews. 4 April 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  25. ↑ "Children's Books of the Year 2025". School Reading List. January 2026. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  26. ↑ "Inside Your Brain at the Royal Institution Family Day". Lucy Ann Unwin (Instagram). 26 July 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  27. ↑ "Edinburgh Science Festival Programme 2026" (PDF). Edinburgh Science Festival. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  28. ↑ "Maps, Memories and Mending: Stories from the Nervous System". Pint of Science. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  29. ↑ "Science Festival". Caterham School. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  30. ↑ "Brain Stories". University College London. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  31. ↑ "Meet the team". PHYT. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
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Category:Living people Category:British neuroscientists Category:Computational neuroscientists Category:Artificial intelligence researchers Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford Category:Alumni of University College London Category:Academics of University College London

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