![George Tackley MBBCh, Phd](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/2613?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr George Tackley
MBBCh, Phd
Teams and roles for George Tackley
Post-doctoral Research Associate
Overview
Our experience of the world is not a simple transfer of stimulus information to the brain. Take the example of pain. A pin-prick on the tip of one's finger is subject to modification at numerous levels within the nervous system, from the site of injury where tissue integrity and injury are relevant, all the way up to the brain where emotional and attentional state come into play.
Remarkably, the brain sometimes acts to alter sensory information at the point of entry in the spinal cord. That is, being unhappy or in an unusual environment can actually change how pain information is processed before it gets near your brain, sometimes as far down as your lower back!
We often think of the spinal cord as distant from the brain and merely a conduit for passing information from the outside to the inside. My research with MR imaging seeks to challenge this, looking at the many ways sensory information is modified in the cord and seeking to understand how the brain and cord's intimate relationship guides how we feel and act.
As an extension of this work, I am interested in how pain is processed differently in chronic pain conditions, particularly those with 'nociplastic' pain. Nociplastic pain has no detectable injury or nerve damage but is due to changes in nerves and networks. I am intersted in whether nociplastic changes occur in the cord and how this can better stratify patients.
Publication
2025
- Tackley, G., Unwin, K., Underwood, J. and Jones, C. 2025. The experience of itch in autistic adults: An online survey. Autism in Adulthood (10.1089/aut.2024.0143)
- Labounek, R. et al. 2025. Body size and intracranial volume interact with the structure of the central nervous system: A multi-center in vivo neuroimaging study. Imaging Neuroscience (10.1162/imag_a_00559)
2024
- Khot, S., Tackley, G. and Choy, E. 2024. How to distinguish non-inflammatory from inflammatory pain in RA?. Current Rheumatology Reports 26, pp. 403-413. (10.1007/s11926-024-01159-4)
2021
- Cohen-Adad, J. et al. 2021. Generic acquisition protocol for quantitative MRI of the spinal cord. Nature Protocols 16(10), pp. 4611-4632. (10.1038/s41596-021-00588-0)
- Tackley, G. et al. 2021. An In-vivo 1H-MRS short-echo time technique at 7T: quantification of metabolites in chronic multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica brain lesions and normal appearing brain tissue. NeuroImage 238, article number: 118225. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118225)
- Cohen-Adad, J. et al. 2021. Open-access quantitative MRI data of the spinal cord and reproducibility across participants, sites and manufacturers. Scientific Data 8(1), article number: 219. (10.1038/s41597-021-00941-8)
- Wingerchuk, D. et al. 2021. Long-term safety and efficacy of Eculizumab in Aquaporin-4 IgG-positive NMOSD. Annals of Neurology 89(6), pp. 1088-1098. (10.1002/ana.26049)
2017
- Jurynczyk, M. et al. 2017. Clinical presentation and prognosis in MOG-antibody disease: A UK study. Brain 140(12), pp. 3128-3138. (10.1093/brain/awx276)
- Jurynczyk, M. et al. 2017. Metabolomics reveals distinct, antibody-independent, molecular signatures of MS, AQP4-antibody and MOG-antibody disease. Acta Neuropathologica Communications 5(1), article number: 95. (10.1186/s40478-017-0495-8)
- Jurynczyk, M. et al. 2017. Distinct brain imaging characteristics of autoantibody-mediated CNS conditions and multiple sclerosis. Brain 140(3), pp. 617-627. (10.1093/brain/aww350)
- Jurynczyk, M. et al. 2017. Brain lesion distribution criteria distinguish MS from AQP4-antibody NMOSD and MOG-antibody disease. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 88(2), pp. 132-136. (10.1136/jnnp-2016-314005)
- Tackley, G. et al. 2017. Chronic neuropathic pain severity is determined by lesion level in aquaporin 4-antibody-positive myelitis. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 88(2), pp. 165-169. (10.1136/jnnp-2016-314991)
2016
- Kong, Y. et al. 2016. Pain in patients with transverse myelitis and its relationship to aquaporin 4 antibody status. Journal of the Neurological Sciences 368, pp. 84-88. (10.1016/j.jns.2016.06.041)
- Tackley, G. et al. 2016. Neuromyelitis optica relapses: Race and rate, immunosuppression and impairment. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders 7, pp. 21-25. (10.1016/j.msard.2016.02.014)
- Piccolo, L. et al. 2016. Isolated new onset ‘atypical’ optic neuritis in the NMO clinic: serum antibodies, prognoses and diagnoses at follow-up. Journal of Neurology 263(2), pp. 370-379. (10.1007/s00415-015-7983-1)
2015
- Waters, P. et al. 2015. MOG cell-based assay detects non-MS patients with inflammatory neurologic disease. Neurology: Neuroimmunology and NeuroInflammation 2(3), article number: e89. (10.1212/NXI.0000000000000089)
2014
- Tackley, G., Kuker, W. and Palace, J. 2014. Magnetic resonance imaging in neuromyelitis optica. Multiple Sclerosis Journal 20(9), pp. 1153-1164. (10.1177/1352458514531087)
Articles
- Tackley, G., Unwin, K., Underwood, J. and Jones, C. 2025. The experience of itch in autistic adults: An online survey. Autism in Adulthood (10.1089/aut.2024.0143)
- Labounek, R. et al. 2025. Body size and intracranial volume interact with the structure of the central nervous system: A multi-center in vivo neuroimaging study. Imaging Neuroscience (10.1162/imag_a_00559)
- Khot, S., Tackley, G. and Choy, E. 2024. How to distinguish non-inflammatory from inflammatory pain in RA?. Current Rheumatology Reports 26, pp. 403-413. (10.1007/s11926-024-01159-4)
- Cohen-Adad, J. et al. 2021. Generic acquisition protocol for quantitative MRI of the spinal cord. Nature Protocols 16(10), pp. 4611-4632. (10.1038/s41596-021-00588-0)
- Tackley, G. et al. 2021. An In-vivo 1H-MRS short-echo time technique at 7T: quantification of metabolites in chronic multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica brain lesions and normal appearing brain tissue. NeuroImage 238, article number: 118225. (10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118225)
- Cohen-Adad, J. et al. 2021. Open-access quantitative MRI data of the spinal cord and reproducibility across participants, sites and manufacturers. Scientific Data 8(1), article number: 219. (10.1038/s41597-021-00941-8)
- Wingerchuk, D. et al. 2021. Long-term safety and efficacy of Eculizumab in Aquaporin-4 IgG-positive NMOSD. Annals of Neurology 89(6), pp. 1088-1098. (10.1002/ana.26049)
- Jurynczyk, M. et al. 2017. Clinical presentation and prognosis in MOG-antibody disease: A UK study. Brain 140(12), pp. 3128-3138. (10.1093/brain/awx276)
- Jurynczyk, M. et al. 2017. Metabolomics reveals distinct, antibody-independent, molecular signatures of MS, AQP4-antibody and MOG-antibody disease. Acta Neuropathologica Communications 5(1), article number: 95. (10.1186/s40478-017-0495-8)
- Jurynczyk, M. et al. 2017. Distinct brain imaging characteristics of autoantibody-mediated CNS conditions and multiple sclerosis. Brain 140(3), pp. 617-627. (10.1093/brain/aww350)
- Jurynczyk, M. et al. 2017. Brain lesion distribution criteria distinguish MS from AQP4-antibody NMOSD and MOG-antibody disease. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 88(2), pp. 132-136. (10.1136/jnnp-2016-314005)
- Tackley, G. et al. 2017. Chronic neuropathic pain severity is determined by lesion level in aquaporin 4-antibody-positive myelitis. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 88(2), pp. 165-169. (10.1136/jnnp-2016-314991)
- Kong, Y. et al. 2016. Pain in patients with transverse myelitis and its relationship to aquaporin 4 antibody status. Journal of the Neurological Sciences 368, pp. 84-88. (10.1016/j.jns.2016.06.041)
- Tackley, G. et al. 2016. Neuromyelitis optica relapses: Race and rate, immunosuppression and impairment. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders 7, pp. 21-25. (10.1016/j.msard.2016.02.014)
- Piccolo, L. et al. 2016. Isolated new onset ‘atypical’ optic neuritis in the NMO clinic: serum antibodies, prognoses and diagnoses at follow-up. Journal of Neurology 263(2), pp. 370-379. (10.1007/s00415-015-7983-1)
- Waters, P. et al. 2015. MOG cell-based assay detects non-MS patients with inflammatory neurologic disease. Neurology: Neuroimmunology and NeuroInflammation 2(3), article number: e89. (10.1212/NXI.0000000000000089)
- Tackley, G., Kuker, W. and Palace, J. 2014. Magnetic resonance imaging in neuromyelitis optica. Multiple Sclerosis Journal 20(9), pp. 1153-1164. (10.1177/1352458514531087)
Research
My research interests span:
- Somatosensory processing (in particular pain, but also itch and affective touch)
- Spinal cord imaging (MRI, including functional MRI)
- Nociplastic pain conditions (including fibromyalgia)
- Autism (particularly tactile sensory differences)
- Device development for somatosensory testing
Contact Details
TackleyG@cardiff.ac.uk
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ