My main research interest is the function of the brain and spinal cord. In particular, I am interested in mechanisms controlling the strength of synaptic connections, the sites at which signals are exchanged between different nerve cells. Recent work has focused on the early postnatal development of signaling at synapses in mammalian visual cortex, with the aim of understanding how the developing brain processes visual information. Techniques include optical monitoring of synaptic vesicle recycling with fluorescent dyes and multi-site patch clamp recording.

I also have an interest in the scholarship of undergraduate physiology education.

Hong, I., Etherington, S., (2011),Neuromuscular Junction,In: Encyclopaedia of Life Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, pages 1 to 10. Etherington, S., Atkinson, S., Stuart, G., Williams, S., (2010),Synaptic Integration,In: Encyclopaedia of Life Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, pages to. Etherington, S., (2014), But science is international! Finding time and space to encourage intercultural learning in a content-driven physiology unit, Advances in Physiology Education, 38, , pages 145 - 154. Etherington, S., Johnstone, V., Everett, A., (2014), Modulation of Synaptic Vesicle Exocytosis in Muscle Dependent Long-Term Depression at the Amphibian Neuromuscular Junction, PLoS One, 9, 1, pages e87174 -. Etherington, S., Williams, S., (2011), Postnatal development of intrinsic and synaptic properties transforms signaling in the layer 5 excitatory neural network of the visual cortex, The Journal of Neuroscience, 31, 26, pages 9526 - 9537. Etherington, S., Everett, A., (2004), Postsynaptic production of nitric oxide implicated in long-term depression at the mature amphibian (Bufo marinus) neuromuscular junction., Journal of Physiology (London), 559, , pages 507 - 517.