News from the neurosciences of the CRC
On Monday, September 21st, 2026, Dr. Raymundo Báez Mendoza (German Primate Center and Leibniz Center for Primate Research Göttingen) will be a guest in our CRC Lecture Series.
When: Monday, September 21st, 2026 / 2:30 pm
Where: DZNE, room 121
Title: Prefrontal mechanisms for social behavior
Guests are very welcome.
On 26 September 2026, the 5th Magdeburg Dementia Day will take place. The University Clinic for Neurology, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the Magdeburg Dementia Network invite people living with dementia, family members, healthcare professionals and anyone interested to join an informative day dedicated to the topic of dementia.
The program will focus on current developments in dementia research, treatment options and approaches to prevention. Experts will also provide information on support services and resources available to people living with dementia and their families.
Expert talks, interactive activities and opportunities for personal exchange will provide space for information, advice and discussion.
As part of the CRC 1436, four postdoctoral researchers are being sought who will closely align their research during their postdoctoral phase with the CRC’s thematic focus. Through these positions, the CRC aims to strengthen and further develop the support and career development of early-career researchers while fostering research closely connected to the CRC’s overall objectives.
The deadline for applications has been extended to 30 September 2026.
How can we maintain and strengthen our brain health in the long term and reduce the risk of dementia? Scientific studies show that lifestyle changes and environmental factors can play an important role in dementia prevention.
Effective prevention requires strategies that are tailored to each individual’s needs and personal risk factors. This is where the European research project PrecisePrevent comes in: its goal is to develop personalised prevention strategies that promote brain health and help delay the onset of dementia for as long as possible.
A contribution by Prof. Dr. Emrah Düzel, Dr. Judith Wesenberg and Dr. Lucía Penalba Sánchez.
On 2 July 2026, this year’s Magdeburg Company Relay Race (5 × 3 km) took place at Elbauenpark under ideal running conditions, with plenty of sunshine and temperatures of around 25 °C. The team “OVGU – Speedy Synapses” once again demonstrated the strong sporting spirit within SFB 1436.
After finishing third overall last year, the team set its sights on another podium finish. With an impressive time of 58:56 minutes – a full minute faster than the previous year – the team secured second place in the mixed category, both in the university ranking and in the overall competition, which featured more than 630 teams.
The successful team (pictured above, from left to right) consisted of Simon Stammer (stepping in at short notice for Joseph Höpker Fernandes, B04), Michèle Maller (Z03; OVGU/DZNE), Niklas Behrenbruch (Z03; OVGU/DZNE), Anne Maass (Z03/B04; OVGU/DZNE), and Martin Matke (C01).
The Female Scientist Network (FSN) continues its interview series “4 Short Questions to …”, featuring successful scientists and highlighting both academic careers and alternative career paths beyond academia.
In the second interview, Dr. Lorena Morton, physician and neuroscientist at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, talks about her scientific career and current research.
Her work focuses on the interplay between neurovascular immunity and chronic inflammatory diseases, as well as on the investigation of extracellular vesicles as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
In recognition of her scientific work, Dr. Morton received the OVGU Young Investigator Award 2024 and was awarded a Polycarp Leporin Program Fellowship (2025–2027).
What can we do to keep our brain healthy, fit and functioning well for as long as possible? Physical activity, meditation and a healthy lifestyle are increasingly recognized as important factors in maintaining brain health. But what does the research actually tell us about their impact – and what does this mean for healthy ageing?
In an in-depth interview with the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Prof. Dr. Emrah Düzel, neurologist at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and spokesperson of the DZNE Magdeburg site, discusses the latest findings from brain research. He explains how we can support brain health as we age and what role physical activity, meditation and our lifestyle can play.
We rely on our memories every day – but the brain does not store our experiences like a data storage device. Instead, memories are reconstructed each time we recall them, which means they can change over time.
In the interview, neurologist Prof. Dr. Emrah Düzel explains how memories are formed in the brain, how emotions influence our memory, and why even particularly vivid memories may not always reflect exactly what happened.
CRC spokesperson Emrah Düzel comments on the latest study findings on dementia prevention, in which participants in Latin America took part in regular dance sessions over two years. In an interview with Tom Kattwinkel of DIE ZEIT, he explains why clinics may need to expand their preventive care programs in the future to include physical activity, healthy nutrition, and cognitive training in order to help keep the brain healthy and fit for as long as possible.
On 5 September 2026, the Magdeburg Neurology Symposium will take place at the Hyparschale Magdeburg. The symposium offers an opportunity to learn about the latest clinical and scientific developments in neurology, with topics including migraine, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke.
Our research focus
Is it possible to increase the performance of memory?
What is the hidden potential of the brain and what are its limits?
How can the brain’s cognitive potential be mobilized and enhanced?
The architecture of our brain provides biological limits for the performance of memory, attention, and our capacity for learning; this is evident on both the micro and macro scale. However, there is large variability within these limits and individual cognitive abilities can be improved through directed training. The goal of our Collaborative Research Center (CRC) is to uncover the performance limits of the human brain and to explore methodological approaches for improving this performance. We aim to understand which neurobiological principles limit cognitive resources and how these resources can be fully accessed or even enhanced. Further, we will identify new ways to preserve neural resources across the lifespan with targeted interventions.
More than 40 scientists in 20 individual projects are currently working in our CRC towards this exciting neuroscientific topic, which is also highly relevant in our current society.
Co-Spokesperson Prof. Dr. Michael Kreutz & Spokesperson Prof. Dr. med. Emrah Düzel
PUBLICATIONS OF THE CRC
Prabhu NM, Matke M, Lehmann N, Aye N, Ziegler G, Taubert M.
Marwa Al Dubai, Mahima Verginia Rebello, Katja Neumann, Mirjeta Berisha, Dimitrios Katsaros, Tobias Ronny Haage, Denise Walther, Jörn Kaufmann, Stephan Fricke, Daniel Uher, Oliver Speck, Johanna Engel, Sven G. Meuth, Bohdan Melekh, Daniel Behme, Hendrik Mattern, Solveig Henneicke, Stefanie Schreiber, Dimitrios Mougiakakos
Lucia Penalba-Sánchez, Yeo-Jin Yi, Elif Kurt, Grazia Daniela Femminella, Clare Loane, Millie Duckett, Alina Zhunussova, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Martina F Callaghan, Ray Dolan, Robert J Howard, Emrah Düzel, Dorothea Hämmerer
Alzheimers Dement (2026)
Anil Annamneedi, Carolina Montenegro-Venegas, Gürsel Çalışkan, Endre Levente Marosi, Armand Blondiaux, Nikhil Tiwari, Misbah Razzaq, Judith C. Kreutzmann, Lucie P. Pellissier, Anna Fejtova, Sanja Mikulovic, Markus Fendt, Eckart D. Gundelfinger & Oliver Stork
Molecular Psychiatry (2026)
Anne Maass, Berta Garcia-Garcia, Niklas Behrenbruch, Beate Schumann-Werner, Eóin N. Molloy, Svenja Schwarck, Michael Rullmann, Anne Hochkeppler, Larissa Fischer, Anna-Therese Büchel, Jose Bernal, Niklas Vockert, Enise I. Incesoy, Wenzel Glanz, Michaela Butryn, Peter Schulze, Kathrin Baldauf, Andrew W. Stephens, Andreas Schildan, Marianne Patt, Gusalija Behnisch, Barbara Morgado, Hermann Esselmann, Constanze I. Seidenbecher, Björn H. Schott, Jens Wiltfang, Henryk Barthel, Osama Sabri, Michael C. Kreissl and Emrah Düzel
Inga Menze, Jose Bernal, Rogier A. Kievit, Kumar Parijat Tripathi, Timo Kaleck, Renat Yakupov, Slawek Altenstein, Claudia Bartels, Katharina Buerger, Michaela Butryn, Peter Dechent, Michael Ewers, Klaus Fliessbach, Ingo Frommann, Maria Gemenetzi, Wenzel Glanz, Daria Gref, Julian Hellmann-Regen, Stefan Hetzer, Enise I. Incesoy, Daniel Janowitz, Ingo Kiliman, Luca Kleineidam, Marie Theres Kronmüller, Christoph Laske, Debora Melo van Lent, Falk Lüsebrink, Robert Perneczky, Oliver Peters, Lukas Preis, Josef Priller, Boris-Stephan Rauchmann, Ayda Rostamzadeh, Sandra Roeske, Klaus Scheffler, Björn-Hendrik Schott, Anja Schneider, Sebastian Sodenkamp, Annika Spottke, Eike Jakob Spruth, Melina Stark, Stefan Teipel, Michael Wagner, Jens Wiltfang, Frank Jessen, Alfredo Ramirez, Stefanie Schreiber, Emrah Düzel & Gabriel Ziegler
Nat Commun (2026)
Johannes Lauer, Julia Poppke, Thomas Nickl-Jockschat, Daniela C. Dieterich, Markus Fendt & Samia Afzal
David Baidoe-Ansah, Hector Carceller, Hadi Mirzapourdelavar, Marta Pérez-Rando, Luisa Strackeljan, Borja Garcia-Vazquez, Constanze Seidenbecher, Rahul Kaushik, Juan Nacher & Alexander Dityatev
Kraus P, Marunde M, Ryzynski A, Düzel E, Kaether C, Kreutz MR, Oelschlegel AM
Sci Rep. (2026)
Kwok JCF, Dityatev A.
Mol Cell Proteomics. (2026)
Margarita Darna, Anni Richter, Jens-Max Hopf, Constanze I. Seidenbecher, Björn H. Schott
