News
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Support brain research
Christmas is just around the corner and the end of the year as well. In this special time of the year many people feel the wish to help others. How about supporting brain research in 2019? Your donation to the association of friends “Forschen.Fördern.Leben” of the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research will help gaining new insights into the understanding of neurological disorders. Together with your support, we may develop new perspectives for patients and relatives.
You can find further information about “Forschen.Fördern.Leben” on their website (in German only). Here you have the opportunity to download the current newsletter. Alternatively, we are happy to send you the newsletter via mail upon request.
Happy holidays!
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Markus Siegel receives Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council
The European Research Council (ERC) supports Professor Dr. Markus Siegel from HIH and the Werner Reichardt Center for Integrative Neuroscience with an ERC Consolidator Grant. Siegel and his team investigate the neuronal foundations of our thinking and acting in the project "Neuronal Information through Neuronal Interactions (NINI)". They combine the latest electrophysiological and analytical techniques to investigate how sensory, cognitive and motor information is generated in the brain and to what extent interactions between different nerve cell networks are involved. The ERC Consolidator Grant supports scientists with several years of research experience in building a career and their own research team.
Please read the press release (in German only)Image: Foto: Verena Müller/UKT
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Tübingen selected for excellent network of the Hertie Foundation
Tübingen is one of six top research locations in Germany that are now being funded as part of the newly initiated "Hertie Network of Excellence in Clinical Neuroscience". The Hertie Foundation's network and junior researcher support programme, which is funded with five million euros, aims to facilitate the transfer of scientific findings into clinical practice in the field of clinical neurosciences. Over the next three years, a total of 660,000 euros will be invested in the Tübingen site, which will involve scientists from the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, the University of Tübingen and the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Please read the complete press release (in German only)
Picture: Charitable Hertie Foundation / Photographer Jenna Dallwitz Berlin
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Rare hereditary disease: a small messenger molecule shows great effect
Brain researchers from Tübingen have developed a new approach for the treatment of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP). A gene therapy may treat the rare neurological disease directly at its point of origin. The therapeutic approach aims to treat the subtype spastic paraplegia gene type 5, or SPG5 in short. In this case, a defective gene leads to an increase of certain metabolic products in the brain that have a fatal effect on nerve cells. As a consequence, the affected patients lose their ability to walk in the long term. Now, the genetic defect has been able to be successfully circumvented for the first time in an animal model by repeatedly administering a messenger molecule (mRNA) into the blood. This led to a normalization of the concentration of neurotoxic metabolic products in the brain, reports an international research team led by Professor Schöls in collaboration with the company CureVac.
Please read the complete press release (in German only)
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HIH research team once again involved in a Synergy Grant
Professor Martin Giese receives a "Synergy Grant" from the European Research Council (ERC). Together with colleagues at the KU Leuven and the University of Maastricht, he will investigate how our brain analyzes body language for non-verbal communication in the project "How body relevant drives brain organization" (RELEVANCE). "We hope that a better understanding of brain processes will contribute to improved systems for the simulation and analysis of body signals in the field of artificial intelligence and virtual reality," Giese explains. At the HIH he heads the Section for Computational Sensomotorics, which combines theoretical neuroscience with applications in biomedical technology. The ERC is funding the project for a period of five years with a total of eight million euros, of which around 2.7 million euros are earmarked for the work of the Tübingen team. The “Synergy Grants” are considered the most competitive applications in the prestigious funding program of the ERC. It was only last year that a HIH research team obtained a "Synergy Grant".
Please read the press release (in German only)
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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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
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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
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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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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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
Learning representations in deep (brain) neuronal networks
Location: Children Hospital, Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 1, 3rd Floor, Lecture Hall
Human tactile afferent responses during the onset of slip
Location: HIH, Seminarraum 2.310
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)
