GRK 2413:  The ageing synapse - molecular, cellular and behavioural underpinnings of cognitive decline

• Subject Area: Neurosciences
• Term: since 2019
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 362321501

At the RTG 2413 SynAGE we train the next generation of outstanding doctoral researchers in the field of molecular, cellular and circuit neuroscience. Our cross-disciplinary training provides superior insights into most up to date questions of modern synapse biology and their relevance for healthy ageing. SynAGE is comprised of an outstanding cluster of faculty researchers contributing high-end methods and approaches used in this rapidly evolving field to address ageing-related changes in synaptic protein synthesis, synaptic signals, and neural networks. In our 2nd funding period, we will continue our successful qualification programme with state-of-the-art methodological and theoretical training, professionalism and career support, flanked by an interactive supervision and mentoring concept, all being developed together with the candidates and tailored to their needs and ambitions. Key goals for the new funding period are to strengthen the interdisciplinary and translational nature of our research- and qualification programme and to further intensify the exchange between our scientists at all levels of experience. We build on achievements of the 1st funding period which yielded a significant conceptual advance in understanding age-related processes and the identification during the 1st funding period of concrete cellular and molecular mechanisms that deem critical for maintaining synaptic and neural circuit function during ageing. Specifically, we want to address the questions of (1) how synaptic health is maintained in the face of cumulative allostatic changes with age and whether molecular "tipping points" can be identified on the way to cognitive decline, and (2) which synaptic changes underlie the increased psychopathological risks triggered by synaptic frailty in old age and whether molecular interventions can be designed to counteract them. To intensify cooperation and enrich diversity of perspectives we establish project squads consisting each of 2-4 PIs, a corresponding number of PhD and MD candidates and postdoctoral fellows to jointly tackle common questions of healthy synaptic ageing. This will help us to further integrate research between individual doctoral projects and to strengthen the conceptual integration of molecular changes in the synapse with an analysis of system and behavioral functions. Based on our achievements, we have selected five most promising topics (each handled by a squad) to study local synaptic (structural components, signaling pathways), network level (circuit function, neuromodulation), and bodily representation (metabolism, circulatory system) of the aging process. The new squad structure thus forms a nucleus of our advanced qualification scheme, helping us to integrate our progress in research with the significant development SynAGE has made with respect to its qualification modules and adding an intermediated layer of interaction across experience levels (MD, PhD, postdoc, PI) and between disciplines.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg
• Participating Institution: Leibniz-Institut für Neurobiologie (LIN); Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE); Standort Magdeburg
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Oliver Stork
• Participating Researchers: Professorin Dr. Daniela C. Dieterich; Professor Dr. Alexander Dityatev, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Emrah Düzel; Dr. Michael R. Kreutz; Dr. Anne Maass; Professorin Dr. Janelle Pakan; Professor Dr. Stefan Remy; Professorin Dr. Stefanie Schreiber; Professorin Dr. Constanze Seidenbecher; Professor Dr. Markus Ullsperger