SRP-Onderzoekszwaartepunt: Translating the biology of cognitive function to improve diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders

Every day we use our cognitive functions to overcome problems and to learn and remember new information. Consequently, cognitive dysfunction and cognitive decline have a tremendous impact on quality of life. Unfortunately, the mechanisms underlying these cognitive problems often remain poorly understood. In this field of science, ageing and Alzheimer's disease immediately come to mind and indeed, in this project we will explore possible new strategies for the treatment of this progressive and disabling disease. We are going to focus here mainly on better understanding the crucial role of the so-called glial cell types and how they can affect neuronal networks through mechanisms such as gliosis and neuroinflammation. However, there are other disease mechanisms that can occur simultaneously in patients and that can greatly accelerate cognitive decline, such as increased excitability, cell death, abnormalities in cell metabolism and in the formation of new nerve cells (neurogenesis). These mechanisms are not only characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, but occur in epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis (MS) and major depression (MDD). The latter neurological and mental disorders therefore each have their own specific characteristics and core problems, but we also see a major impact on the cognitive functions of these patients, which in turn will have a negative impact on their quality of life. A strong point of our consortium is that we have research projects running, both in the laboratory with laboratory animals and in the clinical setting with patients, in which we delve precisely into these bidirectional interactions between the aforementioned brain diseases (stroke, epilepsy, MS, MDD) and cognitive dysfunction. We aim to identify joint underlying biological mechanisms that we can then use as targets for innovative future therapies or as biomarkers for cognitive decline that can improve diagnosis and therapy.