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It is estimated that 100 million people around the world are living with a neuropsychiatric disorder such as depression and anxiety-related disorders – e.g. post traumatic stress disorder and social phobias. Until now, research efforts to understand these conditions have primarily been focused on the level of the individual neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin, and their role in relevant brain signalling pathways. At the Department of Neuroscience at University of Copenhagen, a research team is being established to study how relevant neuronal systems influence each other in real time, to better understand exactly how they function in the healthy and diseased brain.

Many neuropsychiatric disorders have been linked to (chronic) stress and inflammation, and Felix Mayer and his team are aiming to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms of how inflammation and social stress perturb these neuronal systems and how this perturbation manifests in core symptoms associated with a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Going beyond studying the role of individual signalling molecules and by using the latest advances in technology, they will deploy genetically encoded fluorescence sensors to identify regions in the brain which are activated under different stressful or inflammatory conditions, providing a picture of the neuronal responses at unprecedented resolution.

“We now have the tools to see how the systems influence each other, and not only measure them but actually see how the activity in those systems dictates what an animal will do, in real time.”

With the techniques in place to detect the activation of different neuronal systems under various conditions, Felix Mayer is confident that he and his team can identify a hierarchy between these and identify a region of the brain which serves as an “over-arching integrational hub” for stressful and inflammatory stimuli. 

“By understanding if there is a hierarchy amongst neuronal systems during stress and inflammation, we can identify if there are druggable targets to offset imbalances that are linked to neuropsychiatric disorders”, says Felix Mayer

Felix Mayer says, “stress is something we all experience, but stress and inflammation seem to affect some people more severely, sometimes resulting in depression or social withdrawal. We aim to enhance our understanding of the factors that render us susceptible or resilient and identify neuronal populations that are especially sensitive. This will hopefully enable us to develop novel pharmacological strategies to help those who are susceptible to stress or inflammatory processes.”

Currently, many neuropsychiatric disorders are poorly treated; World Health Organization states that the majority of those suffering from such disorders do not have access to effective care, and many are at risk of discrimination and stigma. Pharmaceutical therapies are often first-line treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders, but these are often associated with various side effects, emphasising the need for improved therapeutic options.

Becoming established as a researcher in Denmark in this field is the ideal combination of circumstances for Felix Mayer, who recognises the value of being integrated in a network of strong expertise, and of having access to robust datasets from patients living with disease. “

For a young researcher, there is everything I could wish for in neuroscience. Denmark is so advanced in data mining, so there are excellent possibilities to search patient cohort data. With this grant there is the freedom to focus on the science, and we have a unique opportunity to really put our hypotheses to the test when we discover possibilities for treatments.”