News
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"Beware, that went wrong last time"
From left to right, from top to bottom: when we move our eyes, small deviations can occur even in such simple tasks. A research team led by Professor Peter Thier and Marc Junker at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research and the Werner Reichardt Center for Integrative Neurosciences (CIN) at the University of Tübingen now report brain signals that point to these errors. They are sent out by nerve cells in the cerebellum, just before we repeat an eye movement. The signal allows us to adapt the movement and to learn. With the study, the researchers clarify the function of the so-called climbing fiber signal, which was previously controversial. The results have been published in the current issue of the journal PLOS Biology.
... more info (in German only)
Image: Fahad Sultan
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Rare form of ataxia: New transatlantic collaboration will enable future translational research
The autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay– more commonly known as ARSACS – is a genetic neurodegenerative disease associated with severe movement disorders. It is most prevalent in the Canadian region of Quebec, but it also belongs to the most common early-onset ataxias in Europe.So far, ARSACS cannot be treated. An international research team headed by Prof. Dr. Matthis Synofzik from the HIH and Dr. Roberta La Piana from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, is now looking for biological parameters that will help to measure the progress of the disease. In the coming year, they will systematically collect and analyze blood samples and data sets from MRI examinations. It will be the world’s largest data collection for the disease and will establish a rich structural resource for future clincial ARSACS research. „We can only establish possible treatment strategies once when we have measures to exactly quantify the disease and its progression,” Synofzik says.
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Seeing on the quick: new insights into active vision in the brain
Eye movements are controlled by a small, centrally located area in the brainstem, the superior colliculus (“small upper hill”). A team of neuroscientists at the University of Tübingen headed by Prof Z. Hafed (Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research – HIH and Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience – CIN) has recently found clear evidence that this brain area not only controls eye movements, but also processes visual input on its own. This brain area processes coarse image regions common to our natural environment especially quickly, and therefore facilitates efficient orienting behaviour in real-world situations.
Photo: Ziad Hafed -
Important gene defect found for the most common form of hereditary epilepsy
Epilepsy has many forms - the idiopathic generalized epilepsy is the most common one. The symptoms include the brief loss of consciousness (so-called absences) to major attacks including muscles spasmand jerks (grand mal). Very often there is more than one family member affected. Until now, the hereditary factors involved in the development of the disease are not yet fully understood-it is clear, however, that several genes play a role. A team headed by Prof. Dr. Holger Lerche from the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research and the University Hospital Tübingen now reveals a group of genes that are altered in the disease. Due to their mutations a neurotransmitter receptor is damaged that is responsible to inhibit the neural activity in the brain. The study has been published in the current issue of The Lancet Neurology. For the German Neurological Society (DGN) and the German Epilepsy Society (DGfE), the work is an "important finding that will help us to treat affected patients in a more targeted manner."
...more info (in German only)
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Inauguration of the TübingenNeuroCampus
The TübingenNeuroCampus (TNC) has been inaugurated on July 19, 2018. After a welcome address by Prof. Dr. Thomas Gasser, co-initiator of the TNC, the Vice-President of Research and Innovation, Prof. Dr. Peter Grathwohl, presented the inauguration certificate on behalf of the President of the University of Tübingen. This was followed by several lectures which informed the numerous guests about the perspectives of the neurosciences in Tübingen. The TNC is intended to interconnect Tübingen research groups and institutions in the field of neuroscience, to promote scientific cooperation and to facilitate the internationalization and recruitment of excellent scientists. Building on a long and successful tradition in the neurosciences, the TNC will secure and further develop Tübingen’s position among the international leading sites.
Photo: Co-initiator of the TNC, Prof. Gasser holds the inauguration certificate (left), to his right Prof. Grathwohl
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Neuroscience Campus Get Together 2018
This year, the Neuroscience Campus Get Together took place on July 19, 2018, which is jointly organized by the HIH, the Center for Integrative Neurosciences (CIN), the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University’s Hospital of Neurology. A highlight of the event was the presentation of the “HIH Paper of the Year” award to Dr. Angelos Skodras from the Department of Cellular Neurology. The award honors Skodras for the best scientific publication from HIH of the year 2017. In his work, Skodras showed that microglia live significantly longer than previously thought. The longevity enables the cells to learn and age – which is a prerequisite to form an immunological memory and to contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases. After the award ceremony, delicious street food, a kicker and music allowed an informal exchange between the members of the neighboring institutes until late in the evening.
Photo: Prof. Dr. Johannes Dichgans und Dr. Angelos Skodras
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
The focus of the Department of Cellular Neurology lies on cellular and molecular mechanisms in the aging brain and age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Special emphasis is placed on Alzheimer's disease, the most common and severe form of senile dementia. ...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
Section for Dementia Research
The Section for Dementia Research of the Department of Cellular Neurology and the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy is headed by Prof. Dr. Christoph Laske. The section consists ...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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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Functional Neurogenomics
Neurodegenerative disorders are associated in a proportion of cases with genetic risk and gene mutations. However, the vast majority of cases of Parkinson’s disease are sporadic and the disease is altogether heterogeneous in symptoms and pathology. ...more information
Research groups
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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Clinical Neurodegeneration
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
The Molecular Imaging group focuses on the visualization of Alzheimer's disease (AD) related changes in the brain of mouse models using in vivo multiphoton microscopy. A solid knowledge of the dynamics of amyloid lesions and ...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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Cognitive Neurology
Neurobiology of Sensorimotor Decision Making
Given the vast number of behavioral options that are usually available in an everyday life situation, how do we - and thus our brain - decide which option to go for ...more information
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Cellular Neurology
Fluid Disease Biomarkers
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
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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Neurodegenerative Diseases
Genetics and Epigenetics of Neurodegeneration
The recent advances in high-throughput genomic technologies have provided an unprecedented amount of genotype, expression and epigenetic data for many human disorders. ...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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Cellular Neurology
Amyloid Biology
The group studies mechanisms of amyloid formation in particular the molecular nature of pathogenic protein aggregation. ...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
FAZ "Das Zittern hat eine Geschichte" (17.05.2017)
Press article by Prof. Dr. Thomas Gasser (in German)
FAZ "Warum wir Alzheimer immer noch nicht heilen können" (01.02.2017)
Press article by Prof. Dr. Mathias Jucker (in German)
17:00 h
Location: CRONA Kursraum 420-4-221
Programm
Talk: "Career opportunities at Thermo Fisher Scientific - moving from academia to industry"
Location: HIH Seminar Room
Dec 6 - 7, 2018
Location: Steigenberger Hotel Graf Zeppelin, Stuttgart
Application deadline: August 31, 2018
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)
