Charlotte Stagg is a British neurophysiologist who is a professor at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. She leads th
Physiological Neuroimaging Group.

Early life and education

Stagg studied physiology and medicine at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, graduating with pre-clinical and clinical honours and the Physiological Society prize. For her doctoral degree, she moved to the University of Oxford and worked at the Oxford Centre for Functional

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and ...

(MRI) of the Brain (FMRIB) under the supervision of Paul Matthews and Heidi Johansen-Berg. During her DPhil, she looked to understand how people acquire new motor skills. She joined the

Neuroplasticity Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity or just plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through neurogenesis, growth and reorganization. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganize and rewir ...

group for her first postdoctoral position. In 2010 she moved to the Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, where she worked with John Rothwell for half a year, before joining Andrew Maudsley at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

. There she became interested in ''in vivo'' magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Research and career

After returning from

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Stagg started a

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

Junior Research Fellowship at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

. She returned to the FMRIB, where she worked with Heidi Johansen-Berg. In 2014 Stagg was awarded a

Sir Henry Dale Sir Henry Hallett Dale (9 June 1875 – 23 July 1968) was an English pharmacologist and physiologist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve pulses (neurotransmission) he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Ph ...

Fellowship by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society. Her research is focused on the neurophysiological processes associated with learning motor skills. Her early work looked to understand why particular people struggled with dance and piano lessons. In a clinical study Stagg taught volunteers a sequence of finger motions and monitored the levels of

γ-aminobutyric acid GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid, γ-aminobutyric acid) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the developmentally mature mammalian central nervous system. Its principal role is reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. GA ...

(GABA), the brain's main inhibitory neurotransmitter. She showed that in people who quickly learned the finger motions, the levels of

GABA GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid, γ-aminobutyric acid) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the developmentally mature mammalian central nervous system. Its principal role is reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. GA ...

fell quickly, which allowed neurons to create new circuitry. Stagg demonstrated that ipsilesional anodal

transcranial direct-current stimulation Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a form of neuromodulation that uses constant, low direct current delivered via electrodes on the head. This type of neurotherapy was originally developed to help patients with brain injuries or ne ...

(tDCS) can support patients in recovery after stroke. In this form of tDCS, a positive current is applied to the damaged area of the brain. They used

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...

scans to better understand brain activity before and after the tDCS, and showed that the stimulated regions were more active in the regions relevant to motor skills. Stagg has worked on

magnetic resonance spectroscopy Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique based on re-orientation of atomic nuclei with non-zero nuclear spins in an external magnetic fi ...

as a means to understand neuronal activity in vivo, through the measurement of

glutamate Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; known as glutamate in its anionic form) is an α-amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a Essential amino acid, non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that ...

and

. Stagg was promoted to Professor of Human Neurophysiology in 2018.

Awards and honours

* 2015 elected to AcademiaNet * 2017

British Neuroscience Association The British Neuroscience Association (BNA) is a scientific society with around 2,500 members. Starting out as an informal gathering of scientists meeting at the Black Horse Public House in London to discuss brain-related topics (the 'London Black ...

Sieratzki UK-Israel Early Career Prize

Selected publications

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stagg, Charlotte Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Oxford Neurophysiologists Academics of the University of Oxford