Project acronym BRAIN2BRAIN
Project Towards two-person neuroscience
Researcher (PI) Riitta Kyllikki Hari
Host Institution (HI) AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS5, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Humans interact with other people throughout their lives. This project aims to demonstrate that the complex social shaping of the human brain can be adequately tackled only by taking a leap from the conven-tional single-person neuroscience to two-person neuroscience. We will (1) develop a conceptual framework and experimental setups for two-person neuroscience, (2) apply time-sensitive methods for studies of two interacting persons, monitoring both brain and autonomic nervous activity to also cover the brain body connection, (3) use gaze as an index of subject s attention to simplify signal analysis in natural environments, and (4) apply insights from two-person neuroscience into disorders of social interaction. Brain activity will be recorded with millisecond-accurate whole-scalp (306-channel) magnetoencepha-lography (MEG), associated with EEG, and with the millimeter-accurate 3-tesla functional magnetic reso-nance imaging (fMRI). Heart rate, respiration, galvanic skin response, and pupil diameter inform about body function. A new psychophysiological interaction setting will be built, comprising a two-person eye-tracking system. Novel analysis methods will be developed to follow the interaction and possible synchronization of the two persons signals. This uncoventional approach crosses borders of neuroscience, social psychology, psychophysiology, psychiatry, medical imaging, and signal analysis, with intriguing connections to old philosophical questions, such as intersubjectivity and emphatic attunement. The results could open an unprecedented window into human human, instead of just brain brain, interactions, helping to understand also social disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia. Further applications include master apprentice and patient therapist relationships. Advancing from studies of single persons towards two-person neuroscience shows promise of a break-through in understanding the dynamic social shaping of human brain and mind.
Summary
Humans interact with other people throughout their lives. This project aims to demonstrate that the complex social shaping of the human brain can be adequately tackled only by taking a leap from the conven-tional single-person neuroscience to two-person neuroscience. We will (1) develop a conceptual framework and experimental setups for two-person neuroscience, (2) apply time-sensitive methods for studies of two interacting persons, monitoring both brain and autonomic nervous activity to also cover the brain body connection, (3) use gaze as an index of subject s attention to simplify signal analysis in natural environments, and (4) apply insights from two-person neuroscience into disorders of social interaction. Brain activity will be recorded with millisecond-accurate whole-scalp (306-channel) magnetoencepha-lography (MEG), associated with EEG, and with the millimeter-accurate 3-tesla functional magnetic reso-nance imaging (fMRI). Heart rate, respiration, galvanic skin response, and pupil diameter inform about body function. A new psychophysiological interaction setting will be built, comprising a two-person eye-tracking system. Novel analysis methods will be developed to follow the interaction and possible synchronization of the two persons signals. This uncoventional approach crosses borders of neuroscience, social psychology, psychophysiology, psychiatry, medical imaging, and signal analysis, with intriguing connections to old philosophical questions, such as intersubjectivity and emphatic attunement. The results could open an unprecedented window into human human, instead of just brain brain, interactions, helping to understand also social disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia. Further applications include master apprentice and patient therapist relationships. Advancing from studies of single persons towards two-person neuroscience shows promise of a break-through in understanding the dynamic social shaping of human brain and mind.
Max ERC Funding
2 489 643 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31
Project acronym IPLASTICITY
Project Induction of juvenile-like plasticity in the adult brain
Researcher (PI) Eero Castrén
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS5, ERC-2012-ADG_20120314
Summary Neuronal networks are tuned to optimally represent external and internal milieu through neuronal plasticity during critical periods of juvenile life. After the closure of the critical periods, plasticity is considered to be much more limited. In a series of landmark studies, we have shown that critical period-like plasticity can be reactivated in the adult mammalian brain by pharmacological treatment with the antidepressant fluoxetine. These ground-breaking studies establish a new principle, induced juvenile-like plasticity (iPlasticity) and define a new class of drugs, iPlastic drugs. For optimal results, iPlastic drug must be combined with physical or psychological rehabilitation, which guide the plastic networks and together allow better adaptation towards changing environment. iPlasticity may facilitate functional recovery after brain injury and underlie the enhanced efficacy of combined antidepressant treatment and psychotherapy.
We have uncovered iPlasticity as an exciting new concept and established experimental models to study the molecular, cellular and network level mechanisms underlying it. We will here focus on the role of neurotrophin BDNF, because our previous and unpublished work clearly shows that BDNF and its receptors TrkB and p75 are essential and sufficient for iPlasticity. We have found that a major developmental reorganization in TrkB signalling takes place coinciding with the end of critical periods, and its reversal may underlie iPlasticity. We will utilize our resources as a leading lab in BDNF effects in adult brain and through novel controlled transgenic models, genomics and proteomics, we will reveal the role of BDNF signalling through TrkB and p75 in brain maturation, iPlasticity and brain disorders. Understanding the neurobiological background of iPlasticity will be vital for iPlastic drug development and the numerous translational applications of iPlasticity clearly in sight.
Summary
Neuronal networks are tuned to optimally represent external and internal milieu through neuronal plasticity during critical periods of juvenile life. After the closure of the critical periods, plasticity is considered to be much more limited. In a series of landmark studies, we have shown that critical period-like plasticity can be reactivated in the adult mammalian brain by pharmacological treatment with the antidepressant fluoxetine. These ground-breaking studies establish a new principle, induced juvenile-like plasticity (iPlasticity) and define a new class of drugs, iPlastic drugs. For optimal results, iPlastic drug must be combined with physical or psychological rehabilitation, which guide the plastic networks and together allow better adaptation towards changing environment. iPlasticity may facilitate functional recovery after brain injury and underlie the enhanced efficacy of combined antidepressant treatment and psychotherapy.
We have uncovered iPlasticity as an exciting new concept and established experimental models to study the molecular, cellular and network level mechanisms underlying it. We will here focus on the role of neurotrophin BDNF, because our previous and unpublished work clearly shows that BDNF and its receptors TrkB and p75 are essential and sufficient for iPlasticity. We have found that a major developmental reorganization in TrkB signalling takes place coinciding with the end of critical periods, and its reversal may underlie iPlasticity. We will utilize our resources as a leading lab in BDNF effects in adult brain and through novel controlled transgenic models, genomics and proteomics, we will reveal the role of BDNF signalling through TrkB and p75 in brain maturation, iPlasticity and brain disorders. Understanding the neurobiological background of iPlasticity will be vital for iPlastic drug development and the numerous translational applications of iPlasticity clearly in sight.
Max ERC Funding
2 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2013-04-01, End date: 2018-03-31
Project acronym SPAECO
Project Spatial ecology: bringing mathematical theory and data together
Researcher (PI) Otso Tapio Ovaskainen
Host Institution (HI) HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS5, ERC-2007-StG
Summary The goal of my research plan is to make fundamental progress in the understanding of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of populations inhabiting the heterogeneous and changing landscapes of the real world. To reach this goal, I will construct general and mathematically rigorous theories and develop novel statistical approaches linking the theories to data. In the mathematical part of the project, I will construct and analyze spatial and stochastic individual-based models formulated as spatiotemporal point processes. I have already made a methodological breakthrough by showing how such models can be analyzed in a mathematically rigorous manner. I plan to use and further develop the mathematical theory to study the interplay among endogenous and exogenous factors in spatial ecology, genetics, and evolution. To link the theory with data, I will develop novel combinations of forward (from process to pattern) and inverse (from pattern to process) approaches in the context of five empirical problems. First, I will build on the strong interaction between empirical studies and modelling in the Glanville fritillary butterfly to develop approaches that integrate genetics with ecology and evolutionary biology in highly fragmented landscapes. Second, I will investigate dead-wood dependent species as a model system of population dynamics in dynamic landscapes, bridging the current gap between data and theory in this system. Third, I will use existing data on butterflies, wolves and bears to study how animal movement depends on the interplay between landscape structure and movement behaviour and on intra- and interspecific interactions. Fourth, I will address fundamental questions in evolutionary quantitative genetics, e.g. the evolution of the matrix of additive genetic variances and covariances. Finally, I will develop Bayesian state-space approaches to root species distribution modelling more deeply in ecological theory.
Summary
The goal of my research plan is to make fundamental progress in the understanding of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of populations inhabiting the heterogeneous and changing landscapes of the real world. To reach this goal, I will construct general and mathematically rigorous theories and develop novel statistical approaches linking the theories to data. In the mathematical part of the project, I will construct and analyze spatial and stochastic individual-based models formulated as spatiotemporal point processes. I have already made a methodological breakthrough by showing how such models can be analyzed in a mathematically rigorous manner. I plan to use and further develop the mathematical theory to study the interplay among endogenous and exogenous factors in spatial ecology, genetics, and evolution. To link the theory with data, I will develop novel combinations of forward (from process to pattern) and inverse (from pattern to process) approaches in the context of five empirical problems. First, I will build on the strong interaction between empirical studies and modelling in the Glanville fritillary butterfly to develop approaches that integrate genetics with ecology and evolutionary biology in highly fragmented landscapes. Second, I will investigate dead-wood dependent species as a model system of population dynamics in dynamic landscapes, bridging the current gap between data and theory in this system. Third, I will use existing data on butterflies, wolves and bears to study how animal movement depends on the interplay between landscape structure and movement behaviour and on intra- and interspecific interactions. Fourth, I will address fundamental questions in evolutionary quantitative genetics, e.g. the evolution of the matrix of additive genetic variances and covariances. Finally, I will develop Bayesian state-space approaches to root species distribution modelling more deeply in ecological theory.
Max ERC Funding
1 501 421 €
Duration
Start date: 2008-07-01, End date: 2013-06-30
