About us
Learn more about The Episodic Memory Group.
The Episodic Memory Group
The Episodic Memory Group is a group of researchers, led by Professor Chris Bird, based in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex.
We are interested in how humans remember things, such as events and episodes as well as where things are located in the world. We are also interested in how processing in different parts of the brain underpins different types of memory and why brain damage can cause memory problems (such as in people who have Alzheimer’s disease).
The group is particularly interested in questions such as:
- how do we remember events? Do we just put together all of the things that we think happened? If so, is remembering the same as imagining?
- how does general knowledge influence the way that we remember specific things?
- how do we chunk ongoing experience into discrete events that can be recalled later?
- what are the brain systems involved in memory?
- what kind of things can people still learn despite having severe memory problems?
The experiments use a range of methods, including memory testing in healthy adults, functional brain imaging (MRI) studies and memory testing in people with brain damage.
A hallmark of our research has been the use of naturalistic materials, such as free-viewing of movies, to simulate real-world experience.
Our major source of funding is the European Research Council, who awarded a €1.17M Starting Grant (Feb 2014 - Apr 2019) and a €1.95M Consolidator Grant (Oct 2019 - Sep 2025) to Dr Bird. See our Projects page for more details.