Rhiner's project seeks to understand the molecular and cellular circuits that help the brain recover from injuries. Damage to the nervous system disrupts the strongly linked networks of brain cells, leading to drastically altered cellular interactions that are not well understood. The BrainSySTEMic project is set to decode the molecular dialogues disrupted in injured brain tissues and discover new signalling pathways that encourage regeneration and strengthen the brain's ability to bounce back.

Imagine watching a film. The moving images you see are actually a series of static frames shown rapidly. This is the continuity illusion at work, where our brain perceives a sequence of quick flashes as continuous, smooth motion. It’s a phenomenon not just vital to our enjoyment of films but also a fundamental aspect of how all mammals, from humans to rats, perceive the dynamic world around them. This study from the CF’s Shemesh Lab, published in Nature Communications, delves into how this illusion is encoded in the brain.

Location & Dates: Champalimaud Foundation, April 15th -19th 

Application deadline: March 1st

Acceptance notification: March 15th

Cost: €150 (payment deadline March 22nd)

Capacity: 20 Students

The course is scheduled to take place at the Champalimaud Institute in Lisbon from April 15 to April 19, 2024, and will be limited to 20 students.

Here, we highlight the observations, the questions, the approaches and strategies that showcase the creativity and critical thinking inherent in scientific research.

In science, creativity stands as a crucial, albeit sometimes underappreciated, skill. Creativity comes in a wide variety of forms and shapes, and often emerges from collaborative interactions among diverse minds, emphasising the importance of inclusivity and varied perspectives in driving forward groundbreaking research.

A Call for one Research fellowship (Bolsa de Investigação) is open at Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud (Champalimaud Foundation) in the context of the project entitled “Circadian regulation of pulmonary immunity by neuroendocrine signals”, with reference “PTDC/MED-IMU/2189/2021”, from the Call Nº PTDC 2021, funded by the FCT, through Portuguese National Funds. 

Whenever we look at the world in front of us, light falls onto our retina and is processed in a series of steps in the brain. The primary visual cortex is the first stage in the cerebral cortex, where visual information is processed. Nevertheless, neurons here do not only respond to patterns of light, but to sounds as well. A major question in the field, however, has been whether these responses truly represent auditory information, or are instead modulations due to body movements elicited by the sounds.