Function and Dysfunction of the Nervous System

Longer life expectancy increases the risk of neurological and psychiatric illnesses. The Helmholtz Association’s neuroscientific research focuses on degenerative diseases of the central nervous system such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease as well as epilepsy, brain tumours or cognitive impairments following strokes. Scientists use state-of-the-art non-invasive imaging devices to investigate normal and pathologically altered mechanisms in living human brains such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET) and magneto-encephalography (MEG) as well as genomics, cell biology and appropriate animal models.