A Rubber Hand Alleviates Pain

Researchers conducted an experiment in which test subjects felt like a rubber hand was part of their own body. As a result, their own hand became less sensitive to pain.

If a person hides their own hand and focuses on a rubber hand instead, they may perceive it as part of their own body under certain conditions. What sounds like a gimmick could one day be used to help patients who suffer from chronic pain: Researchers at the LWL University Hospital in Bochum, Germany, have shown that pain caused by heat is experienced as less severe thanks to the rubber hand illusion.

Two Brain Areas Compete for Control

The locus coeruleus and the ventral tegmental area compete for control over the formation of memory content. This has been shown by a team of neuroscientists using light-controlled nerve cells.

Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, have studied the impact of two brain areas on the nature of memory content. The team from the Department of Neurophysiology showed in rats how the so-called locus coeruleus and the ventral tegmental area permanently alter brain activity in the hippocampus region, which is crucial for the formation of memory.

Primary School Children Outperform All Other Age Groups

Membrane Anchor Suppresses Protein Aggregation

Researchers have gained valuable insight into the development of prion diseases of the brain.

Protein aggregation is typical of various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and prion diseases such as Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. A research team headed by Professor Jörg Tatzelt from the Department of Biochemistry of Neurodegenerative Diseases at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has now used new in vitro and cell culture models to show that a lipid anchor on the outer membrane of nerve cells inhibits the aggregation of the prion protein.

Switching Off Fear

The extended amygdala plays a major role in assessing diffuse threats and in persistent fear reactions. Studies show that it is also involved in learning and unlearning specific fear stimuli.

If a neighbor’s dog dislikes children and jumps up at them, barking loudly, the children might give all dogs a wide berth for a while. A sensible learning effect – as who knows whether all dogs are so aggressive? You can also free yourself of a fear learned in this way: If the children have better experiences with friendlier dogs, they can lose their fear again.

How Do MS Drugs Affect Pregnancy?

An analysis of over 3,700 pregnancies of women with multiple sclerosis indicates that the therapy doesn’t lead to increased risks of miscarriage, premature birth or serious birth defects.

Many women are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at an age when they are considering starting a family. What does the disease and its medication mean for the child? To answer this question, a research team headed by Professor Kerstin Hellwig from the Department of Neurology at Ruhr University Bochum, analyzed over 3,700 pregnancies of women with MS.

A Small but Powerful Brain

Pigeons are hard-working learners. And quite clever. A stroke of luck for the Bochum biopsychologists, who, thanks to them, are making advances into the fundamental mechanisms of extinction learning.

A yellow square lights up. Peck! The pigeon hits the glowing square with its beak. Shortly after, a flap at its feet opens up and releases a food pellet, which disappears into its beak in an instant. With the aid of rewards of this kind, pigeons quickly learn to associate the reaction to an actually neutral stimulus such as the illuminated square with a positive outcome.

Uwe-Kappel-Promotionspreis verliehen (in German)

Der Preis würdigt herausragende Leistungen, die während der Promotion erbracht wurden.

Ende November 2024 wurde zum ersten Mal der Uwe-Kappel-Promotionspreis verliehen. Ins Leben gerufen wurde der Preis von der Fakultät für Biologie und Biotechnologie in Zusammenarbeit mit der Gesellschaft der Freunde der RUB, um Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen und Nachwuchswissenschaftler zu unterstützen und ihre herausragenden Leistungen, die sie im Rahmen ihrer Promotion erbracht haben, zu würdigen.

Wie Grundschulkinder zeichnerisch Demenz darstellen (in German)

Die International Graduate School of Neuroscience und die Universitätsbibliothek präsentieren Bilder eines Malwettbewerbs.

Zusammen mit der International Graduate School of Neuroscience (IGSN), zeigt die Universitätsbibliothek Bilder des Malwettbewerbs „Kuddelmuddel im Kopf: Wenn Vergesslichkeit zur Krankheit wird." Die Ausstellung läuft vom 25. November bis zum 15. Dezember 2024; sie ist zu den regulären Öffnungszeiten auf der ersten Etage der Universitätsbibliothek zu sehen. Der Eintritt ist frei.

Der Angst ins Auge blicken (in German)

Phobien entstehen durch Lernprozesse, man kann sie also auch wieder verlernen. Mit verschiedenen Interventionen helfen Bochumer Psychologinnen und Psychologen Betroffenen, ihre Ängste zu besiegen.

Wer Angst vor Spinnen hat, ist in guter Gesellschaft: Spinnenangst ist eine der verbreitetsten Phobien. Das nachgewiesenermaßen erfolgreichste Mittel dagegen ist die Expositionstherapie: Man setzt sich dem angstauslösenden Reiz aus und erlebt gewissermaßen eine Enttäuschung.