Mohn Research Center for Plasticity and Neural Network Dynamics in the Brain

Understanding the brain is one of the greatest challenges to science, with brain disorders affecting one in three Europeans during their lifetime. The human brain is enormously complex, with more than 100 trillion different connections between neurons at tiny junctions called synapses. Neural circuits are made up of genetically distinct neuronal types, with unique structural and functional properties. Communication at synaptic junctions, rather than being hard-wired and fixed, is highly plastic and modifiable.

Experience-dependent synaptic plasticity is critical for shaping neural circuit development and circuit dynamics in information processing and underpins the enormous capacity of the brain for learning and memory. To understand processes such as perception, cognition, learning and memory, and the associated loss of cognitive abilities in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and aging, we must be able to selectively label and manipulate specific cell types within specific circuits that mediate the behavior.

The overarching objective of the TMS Brain Research Initiative is to identify core principles of plasticity and neural circuit dynamics in the brain. The project has five aims:

Aim 1. To develop tools for manipulating specific synaptic plasticity-regulating proteins and apply them to elucidate the mechanisms and functions of plasticity in the hippocampus.

Aim 2. To develop and apply novel tools for cell type-specific manipulation of gene expression in neuronal subpopulations.

Aim 3. To apply these novel tools to elucidate the role of specific cell types and synapses in information processing and plasticity in the early visual system (retina).

Aim 4. To apply the same tools to elucidate plasticity mechanisms in hippocampal development and emergence of neural codes for space in the entorhinal cortex.

Aim 5. To determine mechanisms of toxic protein propagation in the entorhinal-hippocampal circuit in an animal model of AD

The TMS Brain Initiative will pursue:

1) Tool building with a focus on the molecular control of synaptic plasticity in specific cell types and brain regions,

2) Discovery with focus on entorhinal-hippocampal circuits and the retina as strategic institutional priorities, 3)Translational research related to AD mechanisms,

4) Training and long-term strategic development of UiB/NTNU axis.

The project is hosted by UiB and organized as a consortium. By combining research expertise and advanced infrastructures this project provides a rich synergy that will advance brain research and support the strategic priorities of UiB and NTNU.

Center leader: Clive Bramham, UiB.

Node leader NTNU: Giulia Quattrocolo.

Partners: Espen Hartveit (UiB), Cliff Kentros (NTNU), Edvard Moser (NTNU), May-Britt Moser (NTNU), Menno Witter (NTNU).