Healthcare industry

Article - 27/06/2016

A nasal spray for treating neurodegenerative diseases

Neuroscientists from Heidelberg have created the scientific foundations for a nasal spray that can stabilise the dendrites of nerve cells, thus reducing nerve damage and brain function losses following a stroke. Prof. Dr. Hilmar Bading and his team received the 2016 German BioRegions Innovation Prize for their invention and have set up a company called FundaMental Pharma to further accelerate the development of a marketable medicinal product.

Article - 17/11/2014

About synapses and learning

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks – the old proverb is not totally true. It is now known that the modulation of synaptic functions, including the formation of new neurons, still takes place in old age, although to a lesser extent than in childhood. The human brain stores memories in the form of neural activity patterns. Structural plasticity appears to be the basis for all learning processes. Physician Thomas Hainmüller and Prof. Dr. Marlene…

Article - 15/03/2010

Borna disease virus and cell death in the brain

A research group led by Prof. Dr. Bernd Heimrich at the University of Freiburg is investigating how the Borna disease virus can alter characteristic neuronal circuits and destroy the hippocampal nerve cells. The scientists have developed an extremely practical petri dish test system. Their results show which cell types sustain the most damage following infection and also give indications as to how apoptosis cell death can be prevented.