The aim of the Center of Synergic Neurosciences is the development and reinforcement of a unique and interdisciplinary scientific landscape within the Ruhr University (RUB) and its immediate environment that pivots upon the established strengths of the RUB as an outstanding centre for systems neuroscience research. The CSN serves as an Open Department of Neuroscience.
The CSN integrates the neuroscience expertise and research tradition of four Ruhr University faculties (Biology and Biotechnology, Chemistry, Medicine, Psychology), together with the following institutions: the Institute of Neuroinformatics, the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, the DFG-funded special research area (SFB) 509 , the DFG-funded Graduate College GRK 736 , the International Graduate School of Neuroscience (IGSN) , the RUB Research School , and the neurological University Clinics.
The RUB has a longstanding and outstanding reputation in the area of systems neuroscience research that extends accross mutiple species (invertebrates, fish, birds, rodents, primates and dolphins) and focusses on diverse but interleaved areas of cognition, perception and sensory processing. In the CSN the intellectual and methodological resources of leading scientists from the fields of sensory and cognitive neuroscience is further unified. Through the synergy of neuroscientific expertise, we intend to overcome isolated proteomic and functional brain imaging approaches, by integrating the technology of molecular neuroscience with that of systemic and cognitive neuroscience. The CSN addresses the mechanisms of learning and memory, perception and action. In a hierarchy that can be summarised as Cell to System to Network, our CSN strategy aims to use innovative methodological approaches for the study of systems neuroscience to establish how neural circuits analyze sensory information, enable perception, facilitate decision-making, and generate memory traces. For this purpose, a novel integrative research platform has been created that incorporates molecular, cellular, systems, cognitive, clinical and computational neuroscience. The CSN was conceived under the premise, that only through such an approach can we ever achieve an understanding of brain function. With the aim of bringing acquired new insights as rapidly as possible into clinical application, we engage in close exchange and collaboration with clinical neuroscientists.
To foster a new generation of neuroscientists, we also work closely with the participating graduate schools (IGSN, GRK736, RUB Research School) whereupon graduates from our fast-track PhD programmes will be integrated rapidly into careers in neuroscience within the CSN.
The CSN currently represents the following neuroscientists:
Principle Investigators:
Professor Denise Manahan-Vaughan (Coordinator), Learning & Memory Research, Medical Faculty
Professor Onur Güntürkün, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology
Professor Irene Daum, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology
Professor KP Hoffmann, General Zoology and Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology
Professor Ulf Eysel, Neurophysiology, Medical Faculty
Professor Michael Hollmann, Receptor Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry
Professor Petra Wahle, Developmental Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology
Professor Hanns Hatt, Cell Physiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology
Click here for the list of CSN members
