ERC projects to unravel mysteries of human brain

Massive efforts worldwide have been devoted to support research and the European Union has funded neuroscience research through several programmes. Since its creation in 2007, the European Research Council (ERC) has been supporting cutting-edge and innovative studies in neurosciences. More than 200 research projects have been funded for a total budget of over € 250 million. About 15% of the projects funded in life sciences have a strong neuroscience component. Many of these projects address research and public health challenges and explore emerging areas in neurosciences.

Questions addressed by some ERC projects deal for instance with memory and information coding in the brain, genesis and repair of the nervous system, empathy and emotion processes, cell and gene therapy for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, computation models for man-machine interaction or retinal degeneration and blindness.

Some ERC projects in Neuroscience

Unravelling the processes of knowledge acquisition

Knowledge has a central role in our society. To understand more about the acquisition of knowledge and the brain mechanisms underlying it, ERC Advanced grantee Professor Richard Morris (University of Edinburgh, UK) is determining the neurobiological basis of ‘schemas’ in collaboration with Professor Guillén Fernández (Radbound University, The Netherlands). Schemas are the cognitive frameworks that help to organise and interpret information around us. The researchers are conducting an interdisciplinary experimental analysis of the mechanisms of acquiring knowledge, with a focus on the rapid acquisition and assimilation of new information into existing neural schemas. The researchers test how this rapid learning depends upon two components; novelty and prior knowledge. The study integrates animal experimentation with studies on humans; combining methods ranging from optogenetics to cognitive testing. In the long-term, the project aims to contribute to newer, more effective learning strategies.

Principal Investigator: Prof. Richard Morris
Host Institution: University of Edinburgh, UK
ERC Project: The neurobiology of schemas: knowledge acquisition and consolidation (NEUROSCHEMA)
ERC Call: Advanced Grant 2010
ERC Funding: € 3 million for five years
Researchers’ webpage

In search of how our brain feels

Humans have the capacity to slip into the skins of other people, to vicariously experience their actions and emotions. At the Royal Netherlands Academy for Arts and Sciences, ERC Starting grantee Professor Christian Keysers seeks to understand the processes of empathy within our neurons. His project consists of two complementary analyses. Along with his team, he will first examine how the network of regions involved in action observation in the brain - the “vicarious motor network” - integrate information. Challenging traditional models of action observation, the study will focus on directions of information flow between the vicarious motor nodes. The second analysis explores emotions; how neurons in brain regions associated with empathy respond to witnessing and experiencing emotions. This study will benefit life sciences, particularly genetics, and will inspire better therapies for psychiatric disorders of empathy such as autism. For robotics, it will concretise a biological example of how brains process and predict actions of others as well as read their feelings.
Illustration ©Dimitri_K

Principal Investigator: Prof. Christian Keysers
Host Institution: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)
ERC Project: Cracking the code and flow of empathy (VICARIOUSBRAIN)
ERC Call: Starting Grant 2012
ERC Funding: € 1.7 million for five years
Researcher’s webpage

Towards repair and regeneration of nerves after injury

Based at the University of Zurich (Switzerland), ERC Advanced grantee Professor Martin Schwab aims to better understand nerve-regeneration and functional recovery after injury to the body’s central nervous system (CNS). For these processes of repair, the inactivation of the membrane protein Nogo-A has been increasingly recognised. Along with his team, the researcher has found a member of a specific family of receptor proteins, to bind with high affinity Nogo-A, facilitating nerve fibre growth and plasticity. In particular, the group of Prof. Schwab plans to further understand the functional receptor complex that mediate Nogo-A signalling cascade and its regulatory role for synaptic plasticity and nerve fiber regeneration. The results will contribute to improve molecular and physiological understanding of Nogo-A, as well as strengthen the rationale for extending the indication of clinical anti-Nogo-A therapies from spinal cord injury to stroke.

Principal Investigator: Prof. Martin Schwab
Host Institution: University of Zurich, Switzerland
ERC Project: The Nogo-A receptor complex after CNS injury and its role in the developing and adult nervous system (NOGORISE)
ERC Call: Advanced Grant 2011
ERC Funding: € 2.5 million for five years
Researcher’s webpage

Cell therapy for treating blindness

Retinal degeneration, leading to the loss of photoreceptors, the light sensing cells of the retina required for vision, is a major cause of untreatable blindness. Seeking to develop stem cell therapy for such diseases, ERC Advanced grantee Professor Robin Ali conducts research at University College London (UK). He will determine whether embryonic stem (ES) cells can be used to repair degenerate retina and to model photoreceptor disorders. The project plans to establish new protocols for differentiating mouse and human ES cells into photoreceptors and to transplant these into degenerate retinas to test their ability to restore vision. The study also aims to use induced pluripotent stem cell technology to generate photoreceptors from patients with retinal disorders in order to study disease processes that might be corrected using drugs or other innovative technologies such as gene therapy.
Illustration © Robin Ali

Principal Investigator: Prof. Robin Ali
Host Institution: University College London, UK
ERC Project: Generation of stem cell derived photoreceptors for the treatment and modeling of retinal degeneration (STEMRD)
ERC Call: Advanced Grant 2012
ERC Funding: € 2.4 million for five years
Researcher’s webpage

Novel ways to address female health concerns

Addressing women’s health issues are of crucial importance. Based at the University of Milan (Italy), ERC Advanced grantee Professor Adriana Maggi examines the ways the liver uses information from hormones to integrate the metabolic, reproductive and hormonal status of women. She seeks to understand how the liver works in tandem with reproductive organs to regulate metabolism in response to reproductive needs and stages. The research proposes that the estrogen hormonal receptor ‘ER’ in the liver is a sensor of the body’s metabolic state; with consequences for female reproductive functions. To demonstrate this, the study will identify molecular pathways by which endocrine and nutritional inputs are recognised and integrated by the ER in the liver and discover the ways in which it aligns energy metabolism to meet requirements of the reproductive functions. The project will lead to better understanding female metabolic and reproductive disorders, particularly those related to menopause and ovarian malfunction, thereby resulting in the design of novel and more effective treatments.
Illustration © Adrianna Maggi

Principal Investigator: Prof. Adriana Maggi
Host Institution: University of Milan, Italy
ERC Project: Role of Liver Estrogen Receptor in female Energy Metabolism, Reproduction and Aging: What About Your Liver Sexual Functions? (WAYS)
ERC Call: Advanced Grant 2012
ERC Funding: € 1.4 million for five years
Researcher’s webpage