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Research

We investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie the formation and plasticity of synapses and circuitry in animal models of brain disease as well as the human brain.

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Outreach and students@work@MCN

We contribute with our science to the understanding of brain function and disease through publications, at conferences, and by reaching the general public…
Students at MCN contribute to our science…

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About us

The MCN department was initiated in 2003 and in its current form has 35 lab members. MCN is partner in the COsyn consortium, the SUN project, and SynGO. MCN is coordinator of the European innovative doctoral program CognitionNet, and is partner in the EU International training network In-Sens.

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Our latest activities

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Mechanisms Of DEMentia (MODEM): connecting the dots

“We all believe in the importance of a different piece of the puzzle.” prof. dr. Guus Smit says when he explains why this consortium was formed together with 20 other researchers. “It’s about connecting the dots, the cohesion between seemingly different processes underlying the development of dementia from different perspectives. That is what we are looking for in Mechanisms Of DEMentia (MODEM). Because that coherence has to be there. There is no other way.”
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ZonMW funds multidisciplinary CNCR collaboration

A core problem in several dementias is the inability to form new memories and gradual loss of old memories. Funded by a ZonMW open competition grant, the teams of Wiep Scheper (Amsterdam UMC Human Genetics/FGA), Priyanka Rao-Ruiz (VU MCN) and Michel van den Oever (VU MCN) will collaborate to obtain mechanistic insight into memory formation and persistence and how this is disturbed in dementia.
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Astrocyte-synapse proximity determines memory strength

Aina Badia-Soteras, together with others of the Neuron-Glia Interaction team and collaborators, has shown that retraction of fine astrocyte processes from the synapse is a regulated process that gates the strength of fear memories. This work is published in Biological Psychiatry