Scientists at the Molecular Medicine Institute in Lisbon, Portugal, namely, Dr. Domingos Henrique, who leads a research group associated with Champalimaud Research, in collaboration with scientists at the University College London Ear Institute, United Kingdom, have developed a simple and efficient protocol to generate inner ear hair cells, the cells responsible for our hearing and sense of balance.

Last week, on May 28-30, a group of CNP members attended the National Science Communication Conference – SciComPt 2015, in Lagos, Algarve.

The meeting was organised by three Science Centres – Centro Ciência Viva Lagos, Faro and Tavira and counted with Champalimaud Foundation as one of the sponsors.

Similarly to humans, rats offer help without self-benefit, say researchers at Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Our social connections and social compass define us to a large degree as human. Indeed, our tendency to act to benefit others without benefit to ourselves is regarded by some as the epitome of human nature and culture. But is it truly a quality unique to humans, or is this apparent virtue common to other species such as rats?

“Why not bring science to primary school?” – was the motivation behind the initiative of 4 researchers from the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Cristina Afonso, Gabriela Martins, Ana Fernandes and Nuno Loureiro.

Q&A with Alex Gomez-Marin, a postdoctoral researcher at CNP about his recently published study where the behaviour of Drosophila larvae was controlled remotely using optogenetic techniques.

The course is part of the CAJAL Advanced Neuroscience Training Programme aimed at establishing neuroscience training centres in Europe.

Researchers find that just like humans, zebrafish use eavesdropping to gain useful information about their social environment.

Did you ever find yourself trying to listen in on a conversation at the next table? You might have even felt a bit guilty about it, but you just couldn’t stop? As it turns out, eavesdropping, though commonly perceived as a negative behaviour, has its biological advantages and is practiced not only by humans, but also by other species, such as fish.

Researchers at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon discover that fruit flies share the human craving for salt during pregnancy and shed light on how the nervous system controls this behaviour.

Pedro Ferreira, graduate student at the CNP’s International Neuroscience Doctoral Programme, was announced the winner of the exclusive science communication competition for his presentation on the neurochemistry behind monogamy and polygamy. This is the first time a Portuguese researcher wins an international FameLab competition.

Scientists at Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon find that mastering challenging motor tasks depends on the brain’s ability to select the most important movement elements.

It could be rather funny, and a bit sad, to watch someone learning how to play tennis. The major goal, to manage to return the ball, seems nearly unattainable at first. But as the player slowly improves, one can observe that though their return becomes more reliable, the force and direction by which they do it remain variable for a while still.