Unlocking the Full Cognitive Potential of the Brain
How can the brain’s cognitive potential be mobilized, enhanced and maintained? An interdisciplinary team from the fields of medicine, biology, biochemistry, psychology, physics, and pharmacology is investigating these questions in the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1436 “Neural Resources of Cognition”.
At the end of the first CRC funding period, we invite all…
Research Area A
What are the molecular and synaptic
foundations for cognitive enhancement?
Research Area B
How does cognitive training change
the neural circuitry of the brain?
Research Area C
Are changes in the neural networks of the brain
related to the mobilization of cognitive resources?
News from the neurosciences of the CRC
2nd CRC Writing Retreat
At the end of the first CRC funding period, we invite all…
Open Hiwi Position
We are looking for a new Hiwi as soon as possible.The tasks…
Reminder: Lecture with Carl-Johan Boraxbekk
The CRC ‘External Speaker Series’ invites you to a lecture with the…
2nd participants day on November 27th
The 2nd participants day of the service project Z03 will take place…
New Schedule: Invasive Neurology & Neuroscience Symposium
We would like to invite you to the “Invasive Neurology & Neuroscience”…
Talk with Lyle Muller
We are pleased to host this Tuesday a talk by Lyle Muller,…
New lecture in our CRC with Anne Petzold
With Anne Petzold from the Institute of Systems Physiology at the University…
Lecture with Max-Philipp Stenner at the LIN
CRC project leader Max-Philipp Stenner will be a guest at the “Leibniz…
Carl-Johan Boraxbekk from the University of Copenhagen
The CRC ‘External Speaker Series’ invites you to a lecture with the…
Enjoy Your IRTG Nature Masterclasses Subscription!
We’re pleased to inform all students that participated in the flash talk…
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 22 individual projects are currently working in our CRC towards this exciting neuroscientific topic, which is also highly relevant in our current society.
Using the latest neuroscientific technologies and innovative methods, human and animal experimental studies will examine individual variability and transferable improvement in cognitive function. We place a specific focus on how performance improvements in one task can be transferred to other tasks and when task performance comes at the expense of other abilities. We also ask, why do cognitive abilities decline with age? And what are the tremendous resources of “super-agers”? Further, we are investigating how molecular and biochemical processes affect cognitive performance, for instance, with the deposition of tau and amyloid in the brain, or those that occur with sleep deprivation or other environmental influences. This project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and encompasses both the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and the Leibniz Institute of Neurobiology, as well as the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Magdeburg site, Freie Universität Berlin, Charitè Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Forschungszentrum Jülich, and the universities of Düsseldorf, Heidelberg, and Göttingen.
Co-Spokesperson Dr. Michael Kreutz & Spokesperson Prof. Dr. med. Emrah Düzel
Publications of the CRC
Cerebral hyperactivation across the Alzheimer’s disease pathological cascade.
Corriveau-Lecavalier N., Adams J.N., Fischer L., Molloy E.N., Maass A. Brain Communications (2024)
Age-related differences in human cortical microstructure depend on the distance to the nearest vein
Christoph Knoll, Juliane Doehler, Alicia Northall, Stefanie Schreiber, Johanna Rotta, Hendrik Mattern, Esther Kuehn Brain Communications (2024)
Physical Exercise Improves Working Memory through Ripple-Spindle Coupling
Che, X., Auer, B., Schmid, P., Reichert, C., Scholz, A., Weischner, T., Knight, R.T., Dürschmid, S. BioRxiv (2024)
Phase locking of hippocampal CA3 neurons to distal CA1 theta oscillations selectively predicts memory performance
Shih-Pi Ku, Erika Atucha, Nico Alavi, Halla Mulla-Osman, Rukhshona Kayumova, Motoharu Yoshida, Jozsef Csicsvari, Magdalena M. Sauvage Cell Rep (2024)
Probing cognitive flexibility in Shank2-deficient mice: Effects of D-cycloserine and NMDAR signaling hub dynamics
Samia Afzal, Nora Dürrast, Iman Hassan, Elaheh Soleimanpour, Pei-Ling Tsai, Daniela C. Dieterich, Markus Fendt Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry (2024)
Detailed mapping of the complex fiber structure and white matter pathways of the chimpanzee brain
Cornelius Eichner, Michael Paquette, Christa Müller-Axt, Christian Bock, Eike Budinger, Tobias Gräßle, Carsten Jäger, Evgeniya Kirilina, Ilona Lipp, EBC Consortium, Markus Morawski, Henriette Rusch, Patricia Wenk, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Roman M….
Age-related differences in finger interdependence during complex hand movements
Lisa Klemm, Esther Kuehn, Avinash Kalyani, Stefanie Schreiber, Christoph Reichert, Elena Azañón J Appl Physiol (2024)
Neural networks representing temporal expectation in mice
T. Adrian Wendlandt, Patricia Wenk, Julia U. Henschke, Annika Michalek, Toemme Noesselt, Janelle M.P. Pakan, Eike Budinger BioRxiv (2024)
Human connectome topology directs cortical traveling waves and shapes frequency gradients
Dominik P. Koller, Michael Schirner, Petra Ritter Nature Communications (2024)
Anatomical circuits for flexible spatial mapping by single neurons in posterior parietal cortex
Bashir Ahmed, Hee Kyoung Ko, Maria Rüsseler, Jackson E. T. Smith, Kristine Krug BioRxiv (2024)
Spatial mRNA expression patterns of orexin receptors in the dorsal hippocampus
Gina Marie Krause, Lara Mariel Chirich Barreira, Anne Albrecht BioRxiv (2024)
A hippocampus-accumbens code guides goal-directed appetitive behavior
Barnstedt O, Mocellin P, Remy S Nature Communications (2024)
Location- and Object-Based Representational Mechanisms Account for Bilateral Field Advantage in Multiple-Object Tracking
Christian Merkel, Jens-Max Hopf and Mircea Ariel Schoenfeld eNeuro (2024)
Beyond peaks and troughs: Multiplexed performance monitoring signals in the EEG
Markus Ullsperger Psychophysiology (2024)
Microvascular damage, neuroinflammation and extracellular matrix remodeling in Col18a1 knockout mice as a model for early cerebral small vessel disease
Mahsima Khoshneviszadeh, Solveig Henneicke, Daniel Pirici, Akilashree Senthilnathan, Lorena Morton, Philipp Arndt, Rahul Kaushik, Oula Norman, Jari Jukkola, Ildiko Rita Dunay, Constanze Seidenbecher, Anne Heikkinen, Stefanie Schreiber *, Alexander Dityatev…
A septal to ventral tegmental area circuit drives exploratory behaviour
Mocellin P, Barnstedt O,Luxem K, Kaneko H, Karpova A, Henschke J, Dalügge D, Fuhrmann F, Pakan JMP, Kreutz MR, MikulovicS, and Remy S Neuron (2024)
Different inflammatory signatures based on CSF biomarkers relate to preserved or diminished brain structure and cognition
Dayana Hayek, Gabriel Ziegler, Luca Kleineidam, Frederic Brosseron, Aditya Nemali, Niklas Vockert, Kishore A. Ravichandran, Matthew J. Betts, Oliver Peters, Luisa-Sophie Schneider, Xiao Wang, Josef Priller, Slawek Altenstein, Anja Schneider,…
The GluN2C/D-specific positive allosteric modulator CIQ rescues delay-induced working memory deficits in mice
Dembeck M, Dieterich DC & Fendt M Behav Brain Res (2024)
Grid cells perform path integration in multiple reference frames during self-motion-basednavigation
Jing-Jie Peng, Beate Throm, Maryam Najafian Jazi, Ting-Yun Yen, Hannah Monyer, Kevin Allen bioRxiv (2023)
A layer-specific model of cortical sensory aging
Peng Liu, Juliane Doehler, Julia U. Henschke, Alicia Northall, Angela Serian, Dietrich S. Schwarzkopf, Oliver Speck, Janelle M.P. Pakan, Esther Kuehn bioRxiv (2023)
Serial attentional resource allocation during parallel feature value tracking
Christian Merkel, Luise Burgmann, Mandy Viktoria Bartsch, Mircea Ariel Schoenfeld, Jens-Max Hopf elife(2023)
Changes in Cortical Microstructure of the Human Brain Resulting from Long-Term Motor Learning
Nico Lehmann, Norman Aye, Jörn Kaufmann, Hans-Jochen Heinze, Emrah Düzel, Gabriel Ziegler, Marco Taubert J Neurosci (2023)
Hemodynamic responses in the rat hippocampus are simultaneously controlled by at least two independently acting neurovascular coupling mechanisms
Alberto Arboit, Karla Krautwald, Frank Angenstein J Cereb Blood Flow Metab (2023)
Holistic bursting cells store long-term memory in auditory cortex
Li R, Huang J, Li L, Zhao Z, Liang S, Liang S, Wang M, Liao X, Lyu J, Zhou Z, Wang S, Jin W, Chen H, Holder D, Liu H,…
Diagnostic images for mild cognitive impairment reveal biomarker status and abnormal scene processing
Yuetong Bai, Oliver Peters, Silka Dawn Freiesleben, Friederike Fenski, Josef Priller, Eike Jakob Spruth, Anja Schneider, Klaus Fliessbach, Jens Wiltfang, Claudia Bartels, Ayda Rostamzadeh, Wenzel Glanz, Stefan Teipel, Ingo Kilimann,…
Reduced dimension stimulus decoding and column-based modeling reveal architectural differences of primary somatosensory finger maps between younger and older adults
Avinash Kalyani, Oliver Contier, Lisa Klemm, Elena Azañon, Stefanie Schreiber, Oliver Speck, Christoph Reichert, Esther Kuehn NeuroImage (2023)
Gaussian Process-based prediction of memory performance and biomarker status in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease-A systematic model evaluation
A. Nemali, N. Vockert, D. Berron, A. Maas, J. Bernal, R. Yakupov, O. Peters, D. Gref, N. Cosma, L. Preis, J. Priller, E. Spruth, S. Altenstein, A. Lohse, K. Fliessbach,…
Recalling gist memory depends on CA1 hippocampal neurons for lifetime retention and CA3 neurons for memory precision
Erika Atucha, Shih-Pi Ku, Michael T. Lippert, Magdalena M. Sauvage Cell Prep (2023)
Alpha-frequency feedback to early visual cortex orchestrates coherent natural vision
Chen L, Cichy RM*, Kaiser D* Sci Adv (2023)
Cognitive Reserve Against Alzheimer’s Pathology Is Linked to Brain Activity During Memory Formation
Niklas Vockert, Judith Machts, Luca Kleineidam, Aditya Nemali, Hartmut Schütze, Renat Yakupov, Oliver Peters, Daria Gref, Luisa Sophie Schneider, Lukas Preis, Josef Priller, Eike Jakob Spruth, Slawek Altenstein, Anja Schneider,…
Linking epileptic phenotypes and neural extracellular matrix remodeling signatures in mouse models of epilepsy
Armand Blondiaux, Shaobo Jia, Anil Annamneedi, Gürsel Çalışkan, Jana Nebel, Carolina Montenegro-Venegas, Robert C Wykes, Anna Fejtova, Matthew C Walker, Oliver Stork, Eckart D Gundelfinger, Alexander Dityatev, Constanze I Seidenbecher…
Interactive effects of locus coeruleus structure and catecholamine synthesis capacity on cognitive function
Hsiang-Yu Chen, Jourdan H Parent, Claire J Ciampa, Martin J Dahl, Dorothea Hämmerer, Anne Maass, Joseph R Winer, Renat Yakupov, Ben Inglis, Matthew J Betts, Anne S Berry Front Aging…
Noradrenergic neuromodulation in ageing and disease
F. Krohn, E. Lancini , M. Ludwig , M. Leiman , G. Guruprasath, L. Haag , J. Panczyszyn, E. Düzel, D. Hammerer, M. Betts Neurosci Biobehav Rev (2023)
Strategy-based motor learning decreases the post-movement β power
Betina Korka, Matthias Will, Izel Avci, Fabio Dukagjini, Max-Philipp Stenner Cortex (2023)
Chaperone-mediated autophagy in neuronal dendrites utilizes activity-dependent lysosomal exocytosis for protein disposal
Grochowska KM, Sperveslage M, Raman R, Failla AV, Głów D, Schulze C, Laprell L, Fehse B, Kreutz MR Cell Rep (2023)
Inhibitory temporo-parietal effective connectivity is associated with explicit memory performance in older adults
Schott BH, Soch J, Kizilirmak JM, Schütze H, Assmann A, Maass A, Ziegler G, Sauvage M, Richter A iScience (2023)
Better long-term learning ability is predicted by higher surface folding of the human premotor cortex
Marco Taubert, Gabriel Ziegler, Nico Lehmann bioRxiv (2023)
Comparison of three common inbred mouse strains reveals substantial differences in hippocampal GABAergic interneuron populations and in vitro network oscillations
Gürsel Çalışkan, Yunus E. Demiray, Oliver Stork Journal of Neuroscience (2023)
Layer-specific vulnerability is a mechanism of topographic map aging
Alicia Northall, Juliane Doehler, Miriam Weber, Stefan Vielhaber, Stefanie Schreiber, Esther Kuehn Neurobiol Aging (2023)
Interplay of physical and cognitive performance using hierarchical continuous-time dynamic modelling and a dual-task training regime in AD patients
Schwarck S, Voelkle MC, Becke A, Busse N, Glanz W, Düzel E, Ziegler G medRxiv (2023)
Nasal administration of orexin A partially rescues dizocilpine-induced cognitive impairments in female C57BL/6J mice
Durairaja A, Pandey S, Kahl E & Fendt M Behav Brain Res (2023)
Integration of nuclear Ca2+ transients and subnuclear protein shuttling provides a novel mechanism for the regulation of CREB-dependent gene expression
Karpova A, Samer S, Turacak R, Yuanxiang P, Kreutz MR. Cell Mol Life Sci (2023)
Golgi satellites are essential for polysialylation of NCAM and expression of LTP at distal synapses
Andres-Alonso M, Borgmeyer M, Mirzapourdelavar H, Lormann J, Klein K, Schweizer M, Hoffmeister-Ullerich S, Oelschlegel AM, Dityatev A, Kreutz MR Cell Rep (2023)
Vessel distance mapping: A novel methodology for assessing vascular-induced cognitive resilience
Berta Garcia-Garcia, Hendrik Mattern, Niklas Vockert,, Renat Yakupov, Frank Schreiber, Marco Spallazzi, Valentina Perosa, Aiden Haghikia, Oliver Speck, Emrah Düzel, Anne Maass, Stefanie Schreiber Neuroimage (2023)
Sex differences in anxiety and threat avoidance in GAD65 knock-out mice
Ulrich M, Pollali E, Çalışkan G, Stork O, Albrecht A. Neurobiol Dis (2023)
Inferring Salient Motifs during Learning Experiments
Jamaludeen N, Kuhn F, Brechmann A, Fuhrmann F, Remy S and Spiliopoulou M IEEE Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems (2023)
Protein transport from pre- and postsynapse to the nucleus: Mechanisms and functional implications
Maria Andres-Alonso, Katarzyna M Grochowska, Eckart D Gundelfinger, Anna Karpova, Michael R Kreutz Mol Cell Neurosci (2023)
Identifying older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s Disease based on smartphone data obtained during wayfinding in the real world
Jonas Marquardt, Priyanka Mohan, Myra Spiliopoulou, Wenzel Glanz, Michaela Butryn, Esther Kuehn, Stefanie Schreiber, Anne Maass, Nadine Diersch MedRxiv (2023)
Arterial hypertension and beta-amyloid accumulation have spatially overlapping effects on posterior white matter hyperintensity volume: a cross-sectional study
Jose Bernal, Stefanie Schreiber, Inga Menze, Anna Ostendorf, Malte Pfister, Jonas Geisendörfer, Aditya Nemali, Anne Maass, Renat Yakupov, Oliver Peters, Lukas Preis, Luisa Schneider, Ana Lucia Herrera, Josef Priller, Eike Jakob Spruth, Slawek Altenstein, Anja Schneider, Klaus Fliessbach, Jens Wiltfang, Björn H Schott, Ayda Rostamzadeh, Wenzel Glanz, Katharina Buerger, Daniel Janowitz, Michael…
Learning how network structure shapes decision-making for bio-inspired computing
Michael Schirner, Gustavo Deco, Petra Ritter Nat Commun (2023)
Rescue of synaptic and cognitive functions in polysialic acid-deficient mice and dementia models by short polysialic acid fragments
Hristo Varbanov , Shaobo Jia , Gaga Kochlamazashvili , Subhrajit Bhattacharya , Manal Ali Buabeid , Mohamed El Tabbal , Hussam Hayani , Stoyan Stoyanov , Weilun Sun , Hauke…
One-step purification of tag free and soluble lamin B1 from an E. coli bacterial expression system
Raman R, Karpova A, Kreutz MR Protein Expr Purif (2022)
The 3D Structural Architecture of the Human Hand Area Is Nontopographic
Juliane Doehler, Alicia Northall, Peng Liu, Alessio Fracasso, Anastasia Chrysidou, Oliver Speck, Gabriele Lohmann, Thomas Wolbers and Esther Kuehn Journal of Neuroscience (2023)
Cell-selective proteomics segregates pancreatic cancer subtypes by extracellular proteins in tumors and circulation
DSwietlik JJ, Bärthel S, Falcomatà C, Fink D, Sinha A, Cheng J, Ebner S, Landgraf P, Dieterich DC, Daub H, Saur D & Meissner F Nat Commun (2023)
A shift in the mechanisms controlling hippocampal engram formation during brain maturation?
Adam I Ramsaran, Ying Wang, Ali Golbabaei, Stepan Aleshin, Mitchell L de Snoo, Bi-Ru Amy Yeung, Asim J Rashid, Ankit Awasthi, Jocelyn Lau, Lina M Tran, Sangyoon Y Ko, Andrin Abegg, Lana Chunan Duan, Cory McKenzie, Julia Gallucci, Moriam Ahmed, Rahul Kaushik, Alexander Dityatev,…
Plasma concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokine TGF-β are associated with hippocampal structure related to explicit memory performance in older adults
M Raschick, A Richter, L Fischer, L Knopf, A Schult, R Yakupov, G Behnisch, K Guttek, E Düzel, I R Dunay, C I Seidenbecher, B Schraven, D Reinhold, B H…
Cognitive flexibility in mice: effects of puberty and role of NMDA receptor subunits
Seifried L, Soleimanpour E, Dieterich DC & Fendt M Cells (2023)
The relationship between resting-state amplitude fluctuations and memory-related deactivations of the default mode network in young and older adults
Jasmin M Kizilirmak, Joram Soch, Hartmut Schütze, Emrah Düzel, Hannah Feldhoff, Larissa Fischer, Lea Knopf, Anne Maass, Matthias Raschick, Annika Schult, Renat Yakupov, Anni Richter, Björn H Schott Hum Brain…
Repurposing drugs against Alzheimer’s disease: can the anti-multiple sclerosis drug fingolimod (FTY720) effectively tackle inflammation processes in AD?
Volkmar Leßmann, Georgia-Ioanna Kartalou, Thomas Endres, Marc Pawlitzki, Kurt Gottmann J Neural Transm (2023)
A consensus protocol for functional connectivity analysis in the rat brain
Joanes Grandjean, Gabriel Desrosiers-Gregoire, Cynthia Anckaerts, Diego Angeles-Valdez, Fadi Ayad, David A Barrière, Ines Blockx, Aleksandra Bortel, Margaret Broadwater, Beatriz M Cardoso, Marina Célestine, Jorge E Chavez-Negrete, Sangcheon Choi, Emma…