Research Projects

Luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes are highly promising candidates for biomarkers for amyloid misfolds and thereby for early-stage detection of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's disease. The elucidation of the microscopic mechanism and design principles behind these biomarkers requires theoretical assistance...

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...

Following initial learning, information stored in memory undergoes a time- and experience-dependent evolution. Currently, the nature of this evolution at the neuronal ensemble level remains largely unknown. To obtain insight into this dynamic process there is a need to follow memory-associated neuronal representations in large populations of single...

"As memorizing new information relies on distinguishing the new from the familiar, novelty detection is closely tied to memory. Yet, the exact nature of this link remains unclearare they two sides of the same function or rather distinct yet interacting processes? Critically, there are different types of novelty: absolute (new stimulus) or...

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...

TREM2MEDS emerges from the ERC PoC 2022 project TREM2ENGINES (Grant agreement ID: 101069395), which validated the efficacy of a novel treatment for Alzheimers Disease (AD) and Nasu-Hakola Disease (NHD) in murine models. A relevant proportion of AD cases and all forms of NHD are caused by pathogenic mutations in the TREM2 gene, which lead to...

Every day we need to remember whether we have seen people before and adjust our decisions accordingly. The goal of the proposed research is to further our understanding of decisions based on remembered information by following those as they happen in the brain. To be able to study neural decision dynamics, we use computational models of recognition...

Current knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases is limited by poor understanding of how they progress through the central nervous system (CNS). It has recently been hypothesized that clinical progression in these conditions involves the systematic spreading of protein misfolding along neuronal pathways. Protein aggregates would trigger misfolding...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a tremendous burden and there are still no therapies available. Most clinical trials have focused on the late disease stages where neuronal damage is already severe and irreversible. To intervene in earlier stages, it is essential to understand how AD pathology affects brain systems early in the disease. Beyond that, we...

The gut-brain axis has emerged as a complex regulator of system-wide physiology, playing essential roles to maintain homeostasis, including contributions to brain development and activity, affecting host metabolism and behavior. The gut bacterial composition constantly fluctuates, allowing for the regular release of diverse microbe-derived...

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...

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), such as Dementia, Parkinson’s and motor neuron diseases, are a major and continuously growing worldwide health issue, particularly devastating for patients and their families. Yet, no cures are available, largely due to the lack of knowledge of ND pathogenic mechanisms. Strikingly, co-occurrence of several NDs in...