The Synaptic Bases of Mental Diseases
18 September 2018
By increasing the excitability of a subpopulation of “defective” inhibitory neurons, researchers at the UNIGE restore the synchronization of neural networks in the hippocampus, and are thus able to suppress certain behavioural symptoms associated with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia, an often severe Read more…
30 August 2018
A new Study conducted by the Synapsy researcher Paola Bezzi and published in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry shows that neuronal development in the prefrontal cortex and associated cognitive processes, depend on the proper functioning astrocytes. Paola Bezzi and her Read more…
22 January 2018
Synapsy researchers reveal the developmental function of a new schizophrenia (SZ) risk-gene. The candidate SZ-risk gene DGCR2 is located in the 22q11.2 locus, whose deletion is a major risk factor for SZ. In a recent paper published in Biological Psychiatry, Aude Molinard-Chenu, former MD-PhD Read more…
18 December 2017
Thomas Marissal was born in Carpentras, France. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s in neurobiology from the University of Aix-Marseille. Thomas subsequently completed a doctoral thesis under the supervision of professors Yehezkel Ben-Ari and Rosa Cossart Read more…
A three-level study of the synaptic structure, neural network and behavior is particularly helpful for understanding neuropsychiatric diseases, including schizophrenia and patients with 22q11 microdeletion. The structural properties of neurons at the synaptic scale influence their effective and functional connectivity. Read more…
Maria Padula studied biology at the University of Salento Lecce in Italy before obtaining a master’s degree in neurobiology at the University of Pisa. Maria joined Stephan Eliez’s group in 2013 for her PhD thesis in Neurosciences, which she obtained Read more…
One in every 100 children develops schizophrenia in adulthood. But how can we know which children? Brain-imaging studies performed on the 22q11ds at-risk population provide some preliminary answers. In Switzerland, as elsewhere, one per cent of the general population develops Read more…
As Synapsy is addressing 22q11 deletion syndrome and schizophrenia in its seventh Newsletter, the 22q11 cohort is reaching maturity, poised to deliver the fruits of a successful synergy between clinical work and fundamental research. Synapsy looks back at the origins Read more…
5 May 2017
The research grant 2017 from the Swiss League Against Epilepsy goes to Dr. Charles Quairiaux, Dr. Abbas Khani and Prof. Christoph Michel of the Department of Basic Neurosciences of the University of Geneva for their project entitled: “Decreasing susceptibility of Read more…
