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H2020Doctoral network2021–2025

CEN · Cerebellum and Emotional Networks

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2021-06-01 → 2025-10-31
EU contribution
€4,121,913
Participants
8
Scheme
MSCA-ITN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Cerebellum and Emotional Networks

The cerebellum has long been considered a sensorimotor control structure, but emerging evidence suggests its function extends to the regulation of motor and cognitive aspects of emotional behaviour. However, the knowledge gap in understanding of cerebellar contributions to emotional behaviour limits our understanding of brain function and hampers progress in treating emotional and neurodevelopmental disorders. IMPORTANCE TO SOCIETY Emotional disorders—including anxiety, PTSD, and autism—affect millions worldwide, imposing a heavy socio-economic burden. By uncovering cerebellar mechanisms underlying emotional behaviour, this project has the potential to contribute to novel therapeutic strategies, improving mental health care and reducing societal costs. OBJECTIVES •Advance understanding of cerebellar contributions to emotional behaviour in health and disease. •Map neural circuits linking cerebellum to limbic and neocortical regions. •Train 15 Early Stage Researchers through an interdisciplinary ETN, involving 8 Universities and 9 non-academic partners. •Promote open science, dissemination, and engagement with academic, industrial, and societal stakeholders. CEN successfully delivered on all of its objectives, producing novel scientific insights, high-impact publications (with more in the pipeline), and a new generation of highly skilled researchers. The consortium established strong academic–industry partnerships; advanced open science practices; and created a sustainable international network for future EU collaborations.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

This Innovative Training Network (ITN) brings together leading European research labs for the interdisciplinary study of cerebellar contributions to survival circuits and emotional behaviour. The ITN will provide structured training of highly skilled early stage researchers (ESRs) as a European Training Network (ETN), involving seven beneficiaries (based in five European counties), and nine non-academic partners providing complementary training in the healthcare, charity and industrial sectors. The ETN will develop a testable framework to understand cerebellar contributions to emotional behaviour in both health and disease. This framework will convey the fundamental principles and basic functionality of cerebellar contributions and will be firmly rooted in neurobiology - defining the neural circuit processes that occur in the cerebellum and across the key brain areas that support emotional responses. A broad range of skills and technologies are needed to achieve this goal. Our ETN will be unique worldwide in bringing together internationally-recognised research groups with complementary skills spanning computational, cellular, whole animal systems and clinical expertise to train a new generation of ESRs to address this challenge. To foster translation from bench to bedside, we will use comparable paradigms and data analysis pipelines in all our ESR projects. A key aim of our consortium is to share and combine knowledge in the field of cerebellar research and in the field of anxiety disorders. The information gained will inform the development of new therapeutic strategies for individuals suffering from emotional disorders.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL · BRISTOLCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
  • ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE · ParisFrance
  • KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET · STOCKHOLMSweden
  • THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH · EdinburghUnited Kingdom
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PAVIA · PaviaItaly
  • UNIVERSITAETSKLINIKUM ESSEN · EssenGermany
  • UNIVERSITAETSKLINIKUM WUERZBURG - KLINIKUM DER BAYERISCHEN JULIUS-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITAT · WURZBURGGermany
  • UPPSALA UNIVERSITET · UppsalaSweden

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union