Blakemore's recent work has emphasized the variety of molecular mechanisms that contribute to plasticity and has identified some of the genes involved in enabling nerve cells to modify their connections in response to the flow of nerve impulses through them. He summarised research on brain plasticity in his 2005 Harveian Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians and explored the role of plasticity in human cultural evolution in his 2010 Ferrier Lecture at the Royal Society. He is currently serving on the Editorial Board of the journal Neuroscience of Consciousness.