Nathaniel Gould

I am interested in the physical manifestation of memory in the central nervous system. I use molecular, cellular and behaviour approaches in rodent models and cells, in an effort to understand how internal representations of the external world are formed, maintained, updated and lost.

My research focuses on the removable memory constraint quinone reductase 2 (QR2), a redox enzyme about which very little is known in the brain. I described the QR2 pathway, which modulates inhibitory interneuron activity to allow the formation of distinct memories of novel/salient experiences. I also found that QR2 can become a source of metabolic stress in the brain, and created small molecule QR2 inhibitors for basic and translational research.

Presently, I am leading a project at the TNDR group aiming to identify stress- and stress response differences in iPSC derived neural cells from healthy individuals and those living with dementia, while evaluating the therapeutic potential of QR2 inhibition.