For social animals, such as humans, being able to recognize the presence of a threat in the behavior of others could literally be a life-saver. Yet, animals do not instinctively know that when a group member displays freezing – one of the three universal defense responses – it means trouble. Now, new findings by the Behavioural Neuroscience Lab demonstrate how animals acquire this ability and identify the neural circuitry crucial for implementing it.

Photo: pixabay.

Scientists love asking questions… so to celebrate the National Scientist Day, we decided to turn the tables on them and ask them a few revealing questions in return!

Read the full Q&A here.

Illustration: Diogo Matias.

Unlike machines, the behaviour of animals and humans almost always has an element of unpredictability. Countless experiments have shown that our responses to the exact same challenge are sometimes faster, sometimes slower, sometimes correct and sometimes wrong.

In the field of neuroscience, this variability is often attributed to what is called “noise”. An ever-present “neural babble” that influences the way brains process and respond to incoming information.

What do the most common skin cancer and one of the most common pediatric brain tumours have in common? The two may seem unrelated, but in fact, they are both triggered by the same genetic mutations.

Adriana Sánchez Danés, the newest member of the research faculty at Champalimaud, aims to investigate these two types of cancer and understand the differences and commonalities between them, with the ultimate goal of developing novel therapeutic means to treat them.

The Simons Foundation awarded scientists from Emory University and their collaborators $2.5 million to develop new tools to study how the brain controls behaviour in vertebrates. Named the Simons-Emory International Consortium on Motor Control, the project brings together eight research groups from three countries that use cutting-edge techniques to explore connections between the firing of neurons and the movement of muscles.

Adriana Sánchez Danés, a group leader at Champalimaud Research is one of two researchers selected for the 7th edition of the Maratona da Saúde Investigation Award, which was organised in partnership with the Portuguese National Science Foundation (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia). The two were selected from a total of 109 applications and were awarded €20,000 each to support their work.

The words cinnamon, honey, and coffee may bring to mind a lovely breakfast, but SmellTracker has an original use for these and other everyday household items – COVID-19 tracking.

Cancer patients are particularly vulnerable during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, often due to compromised immunity that can be caused by the cancer itself, or the resulting treatment. However, as the situation continues, thoughts turn from solely dealing with the physical effects of the pandemic to caring for the mental wellbeing of these patients, who are already dealing with anxiety-inducing circumstances.

Locomotion deficits, such as lack of coordination, a shuffling gait, or loss of balance, can result from neurological conditions, specifically those that affect motor areas of the nervous system. To develop treatments, scientists often turn to animal models of disease. This strategy is crucial not only for designing potential therapies, but also for gaining insight into fundamental questions about the organisation and function of the nervous system.

CR 2019 Annual Report