For Dr. Adam Lester, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Manu Madhav’s lab, neuroscience is as much about design as it is discovery. Turning sketches into tangible tools, he finds deep satisfaction in bringing abstract ideas to life—from concept to creation.
Adam, pictured next to a smaller prototype of the Omniroute Maze.
However, Adam wasn’t always interested in studying the brain. His journey began with a strong focus on art and theatre during high school, followed by an undergraduate degree in philosophy at the University of California, Santa Cruz. There, he developed an interest in the philosophy of mind and science, driving him to explore beyond theoretical limits and into empirical research.
“I found neuroscience really fascinating in terms of how it explains how I function in the world, how others function in the world, and that ultimately there can be some empirical ground to these very abstract things like consciousness, volition, agency, and perception,” Adam reflects.
This journey led him to the University of Arizona, where he worked in different labs, exploring techniques like EEG, fMRI, and electrophysiology. Eventually, he joined the lab of Dr. Carol Barnes, a renowned neuroscientist dedicated to studying the aging brain using animal models. Together, their research focused on networks subserving spatial navigation and memory, aiming to study the navigational deficits that come with age.
Navigation relies on integrating spatial information from multiple sensory cues, broadly categorized as idiothetic and allothetic. Idiothetic cues are internal signals such as the sensation of head rotation, while allothetic cues are external signals like visual landmarks or environmental sounds. Differentiating between these cues, which often interact in complex ways, is a major challenge in navigation research.
Typically, researchers manipulate external environments to change important landmarks and observe the effects of shifting allothetic cues on navigation. However, traditional methods may involve removing the animal from the environment, which can reset its navigational system.
“I wanted to design an apparatus where I could have rats run on a track and then instantaneously rotate all the spatial information they’re using to find their goal location in order to observe behavioural changes,” Adam explains.
This led to his development of the Instantaneous Cue Rotation apparatus, which uses projected visuals to alter navigational cues with minimal interference.
Adam’s research journey continued to evolve as he connected with Dr. Manu Madhav, who was then a postdoc in Dr. James Knierim’s lab at Johns Hopkins University.
“I first met Manu at a conference,” he recalls. “His dome setup was eerily similar to my own apparatus, and we often discussed it at these networking events.”
This connection eventually led to an opportunity for Adam to join Dr. Madhav’s NC4 lab at UBC in 2021.
“When Manu reached out about a postdoc position at UBC, I was eager to move to the Pacific Northwest,” Adam explains. “After spending twelve years in the desert, I missed the water and greenery of Northern California, where I grew up. I was also eager to work with a PI like Manu, who gets as excited about the creative aspects of developing compelling and technically sophisticated research projects as I do. Manu’s strong engineering background has broadened my thinking and skill set. He’s also supported a really collaborative and intellectually stimulating relationship. I can’t recommend him highly enough as an advisor.”
The Omniroute Maze
In the past three years of working in the NC4 lab, he has developed the Omniroute Maze, an all-purpose automated maze designed to enhance spatial navigation research. This versatile apparatus features a 3×3 grid of 60 retractable wall panels, which can be rearranged to create various maze configurations. Projectors and speakers provide auditory cues, while a gantry delivers food rewards, such as chocolate milk, without requiring human intervention.
The Omniroute Maze Gantry
“If you can take the human being out of the equation as much as possible, it creates a more robust experiment,” Adam explains.
When experimenting with rats, having experimenters present might affect their behaviour, making it difficult to determine if changes are due to the experiment or simply the presence of the people.
Because of its versatile design, the Omniroute Maze can be used for a range of spatial navigation tasks, accommodating both traditional and more complex maze configurations. The lab is finalizing a methods paper with open-source instructions to help other researchers replicate the maze and adapt it for their own studies.
Although his background in the arts may feel like a distant memory, Adam is still embracing design and creation in his everyday life.
“I’d say a lot of my work has really been more enjoying that creative side of building,” he reflects. “I love designing things. I love having them in my head, and then having them physically implemented in the world. Going from a sketch to a CAD model to fabrication, assembly, testing, and implementation is deeply satisfying.”
With his passion for combining design and neuroscience, he is considering a range of future possibilities, including pursuing a role as a principal investigator or exploring industry positions.
Outside of research, Adam enjoys dancing, swimming in the ocean, building, climbing, and spending time at the beach.
