University of Haifa receives grant to investigate role of protein expression in memory formation

University of HaifaJan 12 2010

Prof. Kobi Rosenblum, Head of the Department of Neurobiology and Ethology at the University of Haifa, has been awarded a -1.6 million grant from DIP, a German-Israeli Project Cooperation, over a five-year period. This grant will fund Prof. Rosenblum's international research of the role of protein expression in memory formation and stability.

Prof. Rosenblum received this grant along with Prof. Noam Ziv of the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Dr. Michael Kreutz, Dr. Daniela C. Dieterich and Prof. Eckart Gundelfinger of Magdeburg University in Germany.

As of today, brain and memory researchers know that the expression of proteins in the synapses (the connectors between nerves) creates structures that are stable on the one hand - enabling us to form long-term memory - and plastic on the other - enabling us to continuously absorb new information and create new memories. However, the researchers are only beginning to reveal how this two-sided structure actually works. The new research will attempt to reveal additional knowledge in this area, using imaging technology and advanced biochemical and molecular processes that enable the researchers to follow the synapses and their protein components with measurable means.

"This research is of dual significance: on the one hand, we will be able to gain a better understanding of how and why emotive memory can become so deeply engraved, such as in cases of psychiatric disturbance related to post traumatic syndrome. On the other hand, we will also be able to better observe how and why the ability to create and preserve new memories can be lost, such as in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease," explains Prof. Rosenblum.

"This is the second year that brain researchers from the University of Haifa have been awarded this prestigious research grant, placing the University of Haifa in the forefront of scientific research in the field of brain research," said Prof. Majed Al-Haj, Vice President and Dean of Research upon congratulating Prof. Rosenblum.