Neurosciences

A system developed by Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch now enables patients with a complete spinal cord injury to stand, walk and even perform recreational activities like swimming, cycling and canoeing. 

A team of researchers led by ETH Professor Rafael Polanía has shown for the first time that decisions feel right to us if we have compared the options as attentively as possible – and if we are conscious of having done so. This requires a capacity for introspection.

Stroke survivors have improved recovery of hand and arm function with the help a new rehabilitation protocol thanks to finely tuned electrostimulation of target muscles in the arm.

Chronic stress can decrease the quality of our lives, and have long-term negative effects on our health that may be irreversible. The new Hochschulmedizin Zürich flagship project STRESS aims to explore the causes of stress and highlight possible treatments.

A new study from EPFL reveals novel insights into the ultrastructure and biochemical composition of huntingtin aggregates, the mark of Huntington’s disease, pointing to new avenues for treatment strategies.

The EPFL Blue Brain Project has created the first digital reconstruction of the Neuro-Glia-Vascular Architecture providing a new framework to study brain function in health and disease. The study, published in Cerebral Cortex, represents a major milestone because they can now reconstruct the architecture of non-neuronal entities such as blood vessels and the supporting cells called glia. These reconstructions of the brain tissue provide a sub-micron precise framework needed to simulate the molecular interactions relevant to understanding how neurons are supported and nurtured. They can also be used to investigate how drugs interact and explore how neurodegenerative diseases arise.