Part I of the series of Ar Events under the motto “Roots of AI” was about the past – the history of artificial intelligence". Now, the “Creative Directors” and the invited speakers of Part II of the series, which took place at the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) last month, undertook to discuss the now of AI, sharing their views on the pros and cons of the technology. Part III (the last event of the series) will take place on May 7th and will deal with the future of AI.

Reported today in Science, the researchers found that mice given a diet rich in vitamin D had better immune resistance to experimentally transplanted cancers and improved responses to immunotherapy treatment. This effect was also seen when gene editing was used to remove a protein that binds to vitamin D in the blood and keeps it away from tissues.

This Sunday, April 14th, to commemorate four years since her passing, the Champalimaud Foundation honoured the memory of researcher Maria de Sousa, renowned globally as a pivotal figure in the field of Immunology.

The ceremony took place at the Champalimaud Foundation, with the inauguration of an exhibition showcasing an art collection by Pedro Cabrita Reis, representing Maria de Sousa's research and inspired by her curiosity and permanent quest for knowledge.

The word “cerebellum” means “little brain”, despite the fact that it holds more than half the brain’s neurons. It is essential for coordinating movements and balance, helping you perform everyday tasks smoothly, like walking down a crowded street, or playing sports. It is also crucial for the learning process that allows you to associate sensory cues with specific actions.

Imagine the act of walking. It’s something most able-bodied people do without a second thought. Yet it is actually a complex process involving various neurological and physiological systems. PD is a condition where the brain slowly loses specific cells, called dopamine neurons, resulting in reduced strength and speed of movements. However, there’s another important aspect that gets affected: the length of actions. Someone with PD might not only move more slowly but also take fewer steps in a walking sequence or bout before stopping.

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.

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.

Slated to begin recruiting patients in 2025, the PsyPal study represents a significant step in exploring innovative treatments for deep psychological and existential distress in those with advanced illnesses. The CF, alongside three other European clinical sites, will treat over one hundred patients, each site focusing on a different condition.

The ERC Proof of Concept Grant is awarded exclusively to Principal Investigators who have previously won an ERC grant. Its primary goal is to support the commercial and social innovation potential of ERC-funded research. “It takes courage and skill to take an idea from the lab into the world of business. The Proof of Concept grants announced today are designed to enable researchers to take this brave step and transform groundbreaking research into tangible innovations”, remarked Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.