CRC 1690 in the media

„Tag der Sinne“ laden der Sonderforschungsbereich 1690 „Krankheitsmechanismen und funktionelle Wiederherstellung von sensorischen und motorischen Systemen“, das Else Kröner Fresenius Zentrum für Optogenetische Therapien (EKFZ-OT) und der Exzellenzcluster „Multiscale Bioimaging“ (MBExC) der Universitätsmedizin Göttingen (UMG) alle Interessierten ein. In Mitmachaktionen und Vorträgen erklären und demonstrieren Wissenschaftler*innen wie die Augen und der Geruchssinn funktionieren, wie unterschiedliche Töne entstehen und was passiert, wenn unsere Sinne im Alter nachlassen. Ein Sinnesparcours bietet Kindern ab drei Jahren, Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen die Möglichkeit mit Bild, Schall, Geruchs- und Geschmacksstoffen zu experimentieren sowie mit Fühlkästen die eigene Wahrnehmung zu erforschen und die Sinne zu schärfen. Kinder erhalten im Anschluss einen Sinnesforscherpass.

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Dr. Anne Petzold, Emmy Noether group leader at the European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen, has been awarded the Du Bois-Reymond Prize of the German Physiological Society for her pioneering work on how internal physiological states shape neural circuits and behavior. The studies which Dr. Petzold performed at the Institute for Systems Physiology at the University of Cologne/University Clinic Cologne, revealed how the brain prioritizes competing needs such as hunger and social interaction - a fundamental question in systems physiology. Using preclinical animal models, Dr. Petzold combines cutting-edge in vivo imaging, circuit manipulation, and behavioral analysis to establish causal links between molecular signals such as leptin and the neural circuits that translate them into behavioral choices. In doing so, she moves the field beyond static models of homeostasis toward a dynamic, state-dependent framework for understanding decision-making under competing physiological demands - a conceptual shift with broad relevance across physiology and neuroscience.

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Why are some people unable to hear from birth, even though their inner ear appears intact? One possible cause lies in the so-called OTOF gene. It plays a central role in transmitting sound signals from the hair cells to the auditory nerve. Without this function, acoustic information does not reach the brain. Researchers from the German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in close cooperation with the University Medical Center Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences have now, for the first time, generated marmosets in which this gene has been knocked out precisely. The animals are healthy and develop normally, but are deaf from birth. This provides the first primate model that realistically replicates key characteristics of human deafness (Nature Communications).

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Researchers at the Göttingen Campus have succeeded for the first time in analysing the tiny synapses in the inner ear - the contact points between the sensory hair cells and the auditory nerve cells - at the molecular level. They were able to show that ion channels and other synaptic proteins, which are essential for hearing, are organised in specific patterns. This arrangement ensures optimised transmission of auditory information to the brain. These findings could contribute to the development of therapies for hearing disorders with synaptic causes. The results have been published in the journal "Science Advances".

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Researchers in Göttingen have elucidated the structure and function of otoferlin - a protein that plays a crucial role in the hearing process. If otoferlin is missing or its function is impaired, this causes a common form of early childhood deafness. The results published in the journal "Science Advances" mark a milestone after more than two decades of research on otoferlin at the Göttingen Campus and contribute to optimising the first gene therapies for the treatment of deafness.

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Göttinger Forschende haben unter Federführung der Universitätsmedizin Göttingen (UMG) gemeinsam mit Audiolog*innen und Künstler*innen aus Film und Musik das Klangerlebnis mit einem optogenetischen Cochlea-Implantat in Bild und Ton überführt. Das Musikvideo vermittelt auf künstlerische Weise die Wiederherstellung des „Hörens mit Licht“, einer Technologie, die gegenüber klassischen Cochlea-Implantaten ein verbessertes Hörerlebnis verspricht.

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Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) bewilligt neuen Sonderforschungsbereich an der Universitätsmedizin Göttingen (UMG) mit mehr als zwölf Millionen Euro.

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Topics range from material transitions to the rewetting of moors and immune regulation in the liver / €92 million for the first funding period

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