Branco Weiss Fellow Since
2018
Research Category
Neuroscience, Biological Psychiatry
Research Location
Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital of LMU Munich, Germany
Background
Our memory is our most precious gift, shaping our experience, determining our decisions and defining our individuality as human beings.[nbsp] Memories are the basis for all our everyday activities, performing independently and participating in society. This becomes obvious when cognitive abilities decline, impacting personal life as well as medical and health care systems.
According to the recent World Alzheimer Report 47 million people live with dementia worldwide. This number is said to increase to more than 131 million by 2050, as populations age. Besides Alzheimer`s disease vascular dementia is the second most common cause for cognitive decline and probably the most underestimated one with a large number of undiagnosed cases. As good rodent models are missing, there is neither a causally treating or preventing pharmacological option for patients with dementia, nor do we understand why some memories degrade over time comparable with a jigsaw where more and more pieces are vanishing and the big picture – the human mind and self-concept- gets lost. That sports and enhanced physical activity contribute to a healthy lifestyle is somewhat common sense. However, it is not well understood, how physical activity influences brain plasticity, neuronal circuit formation and may even stabilize memory and thus prevent cognitive decline.
Details of Research
Dr. Anna-Sophia Wahl seeks to unravel in a mouse model how intense physical training promotes brain plasticity to stabilize neuronal circuitry for memory encoding on a cellular resolution level. She will directly study nerve cell activity and the interplay of neurons in networks of the hippocampus, a brain structure substantially involved in memory formation and consolidation, in the behaving, awake animal, performing cognitive and sensorimotor tasks under the microscope. Due to the chronic window implantation over the hippocampus the same neuronal networks and even their degradation after CNS injury can be studied over time in dependence of the behavioral phenotype. The here developed rodent model may not only lead to a better understanding of causal relationships between degenerating neuronal networks and the decline of specific cognitive features but may in particular reveal new biological targets and optimized rehabilitative treatment options to prevent dementia.
