Research Projects

Nocturne specializes in products and services that allow diagnosing neurologic disorders through imaging of the eye. Nocturne’s proprietary technology (patent pending) analyses 3D images of the retina, which are obtained by optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT is a noninvasive imaging technology routinely used in ophthalmology. Standard OCT...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterised by a gradual cognitive decline, which initially affects learning and memory, and gradually impairs other cognitive functions. Despite considerable scientific effort, the cause and pathogenesis of AD is still unknown. Recent in vitro studies suggest that the destruction of synapses by soluble aggregates of...

Several studies have shown that ischemic stroke, a result of an occluded vessel in the brain, could be followed by cognitive decline and, after several strokes, lead to dementia, similar to Alzheimer’s disease but with a different clinical presentation, especially in the beginning. We believe that there is cross-talk between vessel occlusion and...

The brain is nowadays the object of a number of extensive systematic studies that focus on seemingly all aspects of its morphology and function, from overall brain architecture to neuronal connections, neuronal morphology and gene expression. However, at least one basic aspect is as yet incompletely studied: the molecular anatomy of the neuron, i.e...

Since its discovery more than a decade ago, the most studied network in the human brain remains a paradox. The default mode network (DMN) is most active during the resting state and deactivates once subjects engage in goal directed behavior. Although reported in hundreds of studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the function of...

Existing pharmaceutical methods can only target 15% of all proteins in the human proteome. Given this limitation, pharmaceutical companies are running out of options to develop effective drugs to tackle hard-to-treat diseases. To have a better chance of fighting these diseases, further targets of the remaining, so far undruggable 85% of our...

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Prion, Parkinson's diseases, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Spino- cerebellar Ataxia and Fronto-temporal Dementia make up a group of pathologies with distinct etiologies and pathophysiological features characterized by the accumulation in the nervous system of abnormal proteins that are toxic for...

Synucleinopathies are neurodegenerative conditions characterized by an accumulation of the protein alpha-synuclein, including Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. A long asymptomatic phase precedes the onset of invalidating symptoms. Early diagnostics and treatments are hampered by an incomplete understanding of the pathophysiological...

Major objective: It is our aim to develop a lipid based diet that is able to delay or prevent onset of Alzheimer’s disease and related diseases and has a stabilizing effect on cognitive performance in aging. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that there is a large overlap between risk factor of these three diseases. Importantly, there is equally...

The family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprises more than 800 human cell surface receptors that perceive and transmit extracellular stimuli into the cell interior. Due to their involvement in numerous biochemical processes, GPCRs represent prime targets for the treatment of various diseases and are modulated by more than 30% of approved...

There are an increasing number of people across Europe with debilitating speech pathologies (e.g., due to stroke, Parkinson's, etc). These groups face communication problems that can lead to social exclusion. They are now being further marginalised by a new wave of speech technology that is increasingly woven into everyday life but which is not...

The theoretical understanding of human motor control and learning has a strong impact on the diagnosis and treatment of motor disorders, and vice versa. Recent progress has been made in the understanding of motor control and learning, particularly with respect to understanding the functional role of neuro-behavioural variability that is inherent to...