Research

The amygdala plays a central role in the brain. It influences emotions such as anger and joy as well as sexual drive and reproduction. Researchers at FAU have now investigated the influence of certain neurons in the amygdala on the representation of pain in other regions of the brain.

When the immune system attacks a person’s own intestines, this leads to chronic inflammation and considerable pain and discomfort for patients suffering from the disease. A team of researchers at FAU have discovered a new treatment option.

A new DFG research group led by Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) is investigating ultra-high energy jets. Two astrophysicists from FAU are also involved. The research group will be funded with a total of 3.6 million euros over the next four years.

The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1270 ‘Electrically Active Implants – ELAINE’ (coordinated by Universität Rostock) is researching electrically active implants capable of regenerating bones and cartilage or stimulating the brain in the hope of treating motor disorders, caused for example by Parkinson’s disease. In the interdisciplinary research collaboration, researchers from FAU are designing the necessary electrically active biomaterials. The Collaborative Research Centre has received a second round of funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) lasting until 2025 and worth approximately 12.4 million euros.

The DFG has approved funding for two research training groups. Researchers in the new research training groups will be investigating defence mechanisms against pathogens in body tissues and new radar imaging techniques.

The research building of the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN) is the latest address for cutting-edge research in Erlangen. The Free State of Bavaria has invested roughly 35.5 million euros in the new headquarters of the Institute in recognition of the fact that research into sustainable energy technology is indispensable for the future and affects us all.

FAU astronomers investigate special star system before it explodes.

Repairing complex electrical appliances is time consuming and rarely cost-effective. Researchers at FAU have now developed a smart microparticle that enables defective components in these appliances to be identified more quickly and easily by using light signals., In the long-term, this could make repairs easier and extend the operating life of devices.

Ever since a team of researchers published an article in 2015 that seemed to prove that proteins continue to age during their entire lifetime without ever reaching a stationary state, this has been taken as fact by the scientific community. FAU researchers Igor Goychuk and Thorsten Pöschel have now discovered that their colleagues Hu et al. were mistaken in 2015.