The Synaptic Bases of Mental Diseases
19 July 2017
EPFL scientists have discovered how low-dose anxiolytics increase the social competitiveness of high-anxious individuals by boosting the energy output of mitochondria in an area of the mammalian brain that controls motivation and reward. Psychologists speak of anxiety in two forms: Read more…
14 July 2017
EPFL scientists have identified rank in social hierarchies as a major determining factor for vulnerability to chronic stress. They also show that energy metabolism in the brain is a predictive biomarker for social status as well as stress vulnerability and Read more…
15 July 2016
On July 2, 2016, Prof. Carmen Sandi, Director of the Brain Mind Institute at the School of Life Sciences, EPFL, was elected President-elect (term as President starting in 2018) of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) in the Read more…
1 December 2015
Mitochondria in the neurons of the nucleus accumbens. Neuroscientists at EPFL identify a brain region that links anxious temperament to low social status. The researchers were able to tweak social hierarchy in animals by using vitamin B3. There are important Read more…
22 June 2015
Prof. Carmen Sandi has been awarded the Valkhof Chair 2015. On June 22nd, she had the opportunity to give this year’s Valkhof Lecture, entitled: “The stressed social brain: from rodents to humans”. The Executive Board of Radboud university medical center Read more…
27 May 2015
P. Bezzi, C. Bellone, F. Petrelli, S. Habbas During the 2nd DNF Symposium held at the DNF/CHUV, two young scientists working within the NCCR Synapsy received the 1st and 2nd poster prizes : Samia Habbas (Prof. Volterra lab) and Francesco Read more…
20 April 2015
Prof. Carmen Sandi has published a review article in Nature Reviews Neuroscience on stress and the social brain. As noted in a review article by Carmen Sandi (> LGC lab), from the Brain Mind Institute at EPFL and József Haller, Read more…
19 February 2015
How does stress affect our self-confidence when we compete? An EPFL study shows how stress could actually be both a consequence and a cause of social and economic inequality, affecting our ability to compete and make financial decisions. Stress is Read more…
19 September 2014
Chronic stress can lead to behavioral problems. Prof Carmen Sandi’s team has discovered an important synaptic mechanism: the activation of a cleaving enzyme, leading to these problems. Why is it that when people are too stressed they are often grouchy, Read more…
