News
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Randolph Helfrich receives funding from the Emmy Noether Programme
How does rhythmic neural activity of the brain and constantly changing attention create a stable, coherent picture of our surroundings? What ensures that this image leads to a movement or action and how does the brain abstract and generalize? What role do experience and previous knowledge play with the combination of perception and action?
Dr. Dr. Randolph Helfrich from the HIH receives up to 1.5 million euros from the DFG's Emmy Noether Programme for the search for the answers to the rhythmic building blocks of human attention. With this funding, he will set up and lead his own research group at the HIH in the coming years.More information (in German only)
The Website of Randolph Helfrich's lab can be found here.
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International network led by the HIH creates the conditions for a difficult therapy study
Some diseases are so rare that there are only a few hundred people affected worldwide. This causes considerable problems for medicine, because under these circumstances it is hardly possible to organize significant clinical studies and to develop effective therapies.
An international network led by Prof. Dr. Matthis Synofzik from the HIH has for the first time collected all essential information on a rare coordination disorder and has recruited enough patients for a clinical study.
In addition, the researchers found the first clues as to which class of substance can be used for treatment: the coenzyme Q10 available in every drugstore.
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Challenges of treating a stroke during the Covid-19 pandemic
May 10 is the "Day against Stroke" in Germany, a threatening cardiovascular disease with far-reaching consequences: around 270.000 people in Germany suffer a stroke every year.
In an interview with the Hertie Foundation, Prof. Dr. Ulf Ziemann talks about how the current drastic measures relating to the corona virus affect the treatment of stroke patients and why, despite the corona pandemic, you should call an emergency doctor immediately if you get signs of a stroke.
"My clear recommendation is: take the classic signs of a stroke during the current pandemic as seriously as before, an emergency doctor should be called immediately. The clinics are safe." says Ziemann.
Read the full interview (in German only)
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The retina not only ensures sharp, but also stable vision
Researchers from Tübingen show for the first time that the milliseconds-long blindness that occurs during rapid movements of the eyes, which allows flicker-free vision, comes from the retina. Anyone who has ever recorded a video knows that the camera must be held still so that the images do not blur. On the other hand, we always perceive a stable image of the world, even though our eyes constantly move back and forth when looking for new impressions. However, because vision is suppressed for milliseconds during these brief eye movements, these blurring motions are not perceived.
Professor Ziad M. Hafed from the HIH and Dr. Thomas Münch show that the signal for this suppression comes directly from the retina and its neuronal activity.
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Helping patients directly: Daily life and the future of Parkinson research
In Germany, there are more than 300,000 people suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and the numbers are growing. The World Parkinson’s Day on April 11 raises awareness for research and new developments in the neurodegenerative disease.
In an interview with the Hertie Foundation, Prof. Dr. Thomas Gasser talks about the disease, its early detection and achievements that he can observe in his patients. “The results are sometimes spectacular and for me as a doctor really fulfilling. Even if it’s only little things that I can do to help my patients, I find it really rewarding”, says Gasser.
Read the full interview (in German only)
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No public events at the HIH
There are currently no more public events happening at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research. With this measure we want to help slowing down the spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and make sure our employees and visitors stay safe. We will keep you informed when public events will be possible again.
The HIH Lunch Seminar has resumed virtually, please check this page for more information.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us via email. Thank you for your patience.
Departments
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Neurology and Stroke
The Department of Neurology and Stroke has the main focuses in neurovascular medicine (vessel diseases of the brain, cerebral stroke), neuro-oncology (brain tumors, brain metastases), neuro-immunology (e.g., multiple sclerosis) and neuro-intensive medicine. ...more information
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
The Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases treats in-patients on a ward of about 20 beds and in several out-patient clinics. The clinical focus lies on neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, the ataxias, spastic paraplegias, and dementias. ...more information
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Neurology and Epileptology
The Department of Neurology and Epileptology has a focus on epilepsy and other paroxysmal neurological disorders. In these diseases, the excitability of nerve cells temporarily changes either due to genetic or acquired defects. ...more information
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Cognitive Neurology
The Department of Cognitive Neurology provides consultant and outpatient neuropsychological care. Another clinical focus is the treatment of chronic dizziness in the interdisciplinary dizziness center “Südwestdeutsches Schwindelzentrum” operated in conjunction ..more information
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Cellular Neurology
Our research focus is on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of brain aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases, with a special emphasis on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer´s disease and other cerebral proteopathies ...more information
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Independent Research Groups
The independent research group at the HIH focuses on the physiology of learning and memory ...more information
Research groups
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Neurology and Stroke
Brain Networks and Plasticity
The human brain possesses the remarkable capacity of reorganization, which is the basis for adapting to constantly changing environmental conditions. This plasticity is of paramount importance ...more information
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Cognitive Neurology
Neuropsychology of Action
The Research Group "Neuropsychology of Action" is dedicated to investigations of human action control. We study clinical impairments of action control and their neural substrates in patients with brain damage ...more information
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Cellular Neurology
Experimental Neuroimmunology
An immune response is part of most neurological diseases, and the development of late-onset Alzheimer's Disease (AD) has been linked to immune related genes and most recently also to epigenetic modifications. ...more information
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Genetics of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's syndrome (PS) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's dementia. The vast majority of patients are ill with no apparent cause. ...more information
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Cellular Neurology
Dementia Research Unit
The Dementia Research Unit is a clinical research unit of the Department of Cellular Neurology and the Department of Psychiatry. It closely collaborates with the outpatient Memory Clinic. ...more information
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Neurology and Epileptology
Clinical Genetics of Paroxysmal Neurological Diseases
Paroxysmal neurological disorders include a broad spectrum of clinical entities such as migraine, episodic ataxia or myotonia. The research group is focussed on the clinical genetics ...more information
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Cognitive Neurology
Neuro-Vestibular Diagnostics
The complaint of dizziness is highly prevalent but remains often an enigma to the physician in daily practice. Serious diseases potentially accompanied by dizziness like stroke, multiple sclerosis ...more information
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Cognitive Neurology
Oculomotor Laboratory
Playing video-games is a widely distributed leisure activity in our society. In order to estimate the consequences of video-game play, we study the details of eye movements and pupil light responses ... more information
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Cellular Neurology
Experimental Neuropathology
Cerebral proteopathy is a unifying term for cerebral neurodegenerative diseases in which aggregated proteins are abnormally deposited in the brain. The hallmark proteopathy is Alzheimer's disease (AD) ...more information
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Independent Research Group
Molecular Brain Development
The mammalian neocortex is a highly complex and spatially heterogeneous structure, which has expanded significantly in mammalian evolution. Neocortical network function is at the heart of cognitive function ...more info
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Neurology and Stroke
Neurological B cell Immunology
The research group “Neurological B cell Immunology” is focused on the role of B cells in neuro-inflammatory diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS) and... more information
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Independent Research Groups
Neural Dynamics and Magnetoencephalography
The central goal of the laboratory is to investigate how cognition and behavior emerges from dynamic interactions across widely distributed neuronal ensembles... more information
Research groups
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Clinical Parkinson's Disease Research
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease and affects about 1 to 2 % of individuals over the age of 65. The number is steadily increasing due to demographic changes in Western countries. ...more information
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Cellular Neurology
Molecular Imaging Unit
The Molecular Imaging Unit focuses on the visualization of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) related changes in model systems using in vivo multiphoton microscopy ...more information
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Neurology and Stroke
Molecular Neurooncology
Three to five of 100.000 people are annually diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM), the most malignant brain tumor in adults. Despite aggressive multimodal treatment including surgical resection and ...more information
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Unit
Cellular Neurology
Molecular Biomarkers Unit
Processes related to Alzheimer ́s disease (AD) and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases start many years before the onset of the first clinical symptoms. At the moment of the first clinical complaints, the disease has already caused ...more information
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Neurology and Stroke
Interdisciplinary Section of Neuro-Oncology
The projects of the lab are focusing on the biology of brain tumors, especially with targeted individualized therapies, molecular mechanisms in the development of resistance and cell based therapy approaches ...more information
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Neurology and Epileptology
Translational Imaging
The focus of our research group is the structural and functional imaging of neurological diseases with a particular focus on epileptology. We use multi-modal imaging techniques to improve the understanding of disease development ...more information
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Dystonia
Dystonia is the third most common movement disorder, and mutations in a growing number of genes have been identified as causes for hereditary forms in many cases. The aim of the group, which brings together clinical experience ...more information
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Neurology and Stroke
Neurophonetics and Translational Neurorehabilitation
The work group Neurophonetics and Translational Neurorehabilitation is based on a cooperation between the University of Tübingen and a neurological rehabilitation clinic (Fachkliniken Hohenurach). ...more information
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Neurology and Stroke
Stroke and Neuroprotection
The research focus of our Stroke and Neuroprotection Laboratory is to find new and to optimize existing neuroprotective strategies ...more information
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Neurology and Epileptology
Experimental Epileptology
Our research group is interested to unravel the mechanisms of well defined, mainly genetic, neurological, paroxysmal diseases, to understand correlations with clinical symptoms and to find new treatment options. ...more information
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Cognitive Neurology
Active Perception Lab
Humans are tremendously reliant on the sense of vision to interact with their environment. Such interaction often involves the generation of motor outputs ...more information
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Mitochondrial Biology of Parkinson’s Disease
Neurodegenerative disorders are associated in a proportion of cases with genetic risk and gene mutations. However, the vast majority …more info
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Neurology and Epileptology
Neuromuscular Imaging Group
The group works on different projects concerning nerve imaging, particularly high-resolution ultrasound in neuromuscular disorders ...more information
Research groups
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Neurology and Epileptology
Migraines and Primary Headache Disorders
Our group aims at unraveling the molecular pathophysiology of migraine and other primary headache disorders. ...more information
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Section for Clinical Neurogenetics
Neurogenetic diseases like cerebellar ataxia, hereditary spastic paraplegia and leukodystrophy are rare disorders. ...more information
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Systems Neurodegeneration
Our research focuses on the investigation of the genetic basis, systems neuroscience and paradigmatic therapy approaches in ...more information
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Cognitive Neurology
Sensorimotor Lab
The lab addresses a variety of topics that, at first glance, may look disparate. Yet, there is a common denominator ...more information
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Genomic of Rare Movement Disorders
Our group specializes in rare diseases. A disease is called rare, when it affects no more than 5 of 100,000 people. However, in the grand-scheme of things, rare diseases are not quite so rare ...more information
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Cognitive Neurology
Section for Computational Sensomotorics
The Section for Computational Sensomotorics investigates theoretical principles in the perception and control of motor actions. Research is organized around three main topics ...more information
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Cognitive Neurology
Section for Neuropsychology
The Section for Neuropsychology focuses on the investigation of spatial cognition and object recognition in humans. The current issues of our work comprise the action control and sensorimotor coordination ...more information
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Functional Neurogenetics
Age-related neurodegenerative diseases are a severe and increasingly worrisome burden for our aging population. Most of the chronic neurodegenerative diseases ...more information
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Independent Research Groups
Learning and Memory
All organisms continuously have to adapt their behavior according to changes in the environment in order to survive. This is particularly important when learning to predict threatening or dangerous situations. ...more information
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Cognitive Neurology
Systems Neurophysiology Lab
The overarching goal of our work is to understand the operating principles of the neocortex, a unique brain structure, which mainly evolved in mammals. There is clear evidence that the neocortex, in the broadest sense, endows the subject with cognitive capabilities. ...more information
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Deep Brain Stimulation
The working group aims to uncover mechanisms of action of deep brain stimulation therapy and to translate the pathophysiological insights into future developments. …more information
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Cognitive Neurology
Motor Control Modeling
The research group „Multi-Level Modeling in Motor Control and Rehabilitation Robotics“ focuses on the generation and control of active biological movements. We develop ...more information
The next HIH Lunch Seminar will take place on Monday, 8. June 2020, 1pm via Zoom.
13:00 Cerebral organoids as models of human neocortical development
Shokoufeh Khakipoor, Molecular Brain Development, Group Mayer
Combining excellent research and patient care
Click on the image to watch the video
An exemplary connection between research and clinical care
The German Council of Science and Humanities recognizes the performance and academic excellence of theHertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research. The recommendation of the council is an excellent basis for the further development of the HIH.
Press release by the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat)
