NTNU: €2.27M to elucidate how the brain senses and remembers locations

Edvard and May-Britt Moser from the Kalvi Institute for Systems Neuroscience at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) have been awarded one of nine European Research Council Advanced Investigator Grants, worth NOK 20 million (€2.27 million). Their project, “Neural circuits for space representation in the mammalian cortex”, will identify the molecular mechanisms underlying mental phenomena such as sense of locality in higher brains.

Knowledge of the mechanisms the brain uses to produce non-sensory subjective experiences is limited, despite the breadth of understanding about the workings of individual brain cells and synapses. The Mosers’ project at NTNU will combine new transgenic methods on rats to determine how a basic cognitive function, or self-localisation, is generated in a functionally well-described mammalian neural circuit.

Moser says: “The 20 million are very welcome. This project brings Norwegian brain research another step forward. It is also a huge inspiration for basic research on the mechanistic basis for mental functions. It will bring us much closer to an understanding of how nervous cells produce mental functions, and in the long run contribute to the treatment of diseases attacking the brain.”

Rector Torbjørn Digernes, of NTNU, says: “This is primarily a recognition of the fantastic work performed at the Kalvi Institute. Mr and Mrs Moser have long been shining stars on the researcher sky. They are an inspiration for everyone else.”

The project uses harmless viruses as messengers to switch genes on and off as Moser explains: “The new genes placed inside the nervous cells are a bit like young cuckoos. They are a bit different, but regarded as part of the family. We know the ‘young cuckoo’s’ characteristics and how to make it sing and keep quiet. Or, as we call it: switch the genes on and off. That is the stroke of genius and what enables us to study which cells that do what inside our brains."