Our nervous system runs through all parts of our body and is the basis for being. We want to understand its fundamental mechanisms and how dysfunctions lead to diseases.
We use advanced technologies that allow us to unravel how changes to molecules impact on nerve cell functions and affects behavior and disease progression. Examples are pain, visual disturbances, depression, Parkinson’s disease and dementia – noting that inflammatory states and stressful environmental conditions have emerged as able to modulate brain functions.
Our theme hosts more than 25 specialised research groups with Danish as well as international research leaders. The research groups collaborate with both clinicians and the pharmaceutical sector.
How are stressful experiences represented in memory circuits, and are such representations directly linked to changes of social and emotional behavior?
I am particularly interested in the effects of cannabinoids in the brain, both natural - cannabis-derived - and endogenous - the natural cannabinoids produced by our body.