Neuroscience Unit

Head of Unit: Prof Laurence RIS

Research Projects:

• Neuroscience research scientists currently agree that memory is stored in our brain thanks to synapses adjusting their effectiveness to modify neuronal selectivity. Synapses are junctions which link brain cells into a neuronal network;
  
  
• It is possible to start a durable increase in synaptic effectiveness (during several hours) on 0.5 mm thick brain slices (hippocampus), kept alive artificially. This phenomenon is known as long-term potentiation (abbreviated to LTP). LTP thus constitutes a model of elementary memory which can be studied in vitro. These are the two characteristics that make it fascinating to research;
  
  
• The mechanisms which trigger the release of LTP and keep it in its initial phase (first hour) are well-known. However, mechanisms responsible for its longer-term maintenance (in particular from 1 to 4 hours after its induction) are yet unknown;
  
  
• We are currently focusing on the mechanisms of the more durable phase of the LTP (L-LTP or Late Long-Term Potentiation) 

• We also study neuropathologies inducing alterations in memory formation and in long term synaptic plasticity such as alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Collaborations:

• Research Institute for Biosciences: collaborative project to study the impact of neuroinflammation induced by a mechanical stress in novel in vitro models. IBS

• Institute of Neurosciences (IoNS) of UCL: collaborative project on alzheimer's disease. IoNS.html

• Kings College London: collaboration to study the role of CaMKII alpha on synaptic plasticity and memory. Kings College