Dr. Merson’s research aims to advance our understanding of oligodendroglial cell function in the central nervous system. His interests span from neurodevelopment to ageing and extends to perturbations in oligodendroglial homeostasis that contribute to mental health disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. A central interest is to clarify how changes in myelination contribute to experience-dependent neuroplasticity. Studies from his team and others have revealed that myelination is regulated in an activity-dependent manner. The implications are that myelin plasticity could play a critical role in learning and memory. His team will explore the role that adaptive myelination plays in acquiring and consolidating learnt behaviors. Another key interest is to elucidate how myelin regeneration is executed at the cellular and molecular level. A particular focus is probing the function of distinct populations of stem and progenitor cells in oligodendrocyte regeneration. His approach combines genetic fate-mapping with single nuclei RNA sequencing to define the developmental trajectories, cell-state transitions and transcriptional dynamics of oligodendroglial progenitor cells as they differentiate into myelin-forming oligodendrocytes.