Research group Yves-Alain Barde Molecular mechanisms underlying
the development of the nervous system To understand the cause of
diseases of the nervous system we explore the processes
controlling the development of neurons in the embryo. The
nervous system consists of functional units called neurons which
stop dividing early during development. This is a major reason
why the adult nervous system is essentially unable to regenerate
after lesion and in neurodegenerative diseases. The lack of cell
division also creates a very significant experimental problem as
neurons cannot be simply expanded in culture to study them,
unlike cells of the immune system or cancer cells. Our group
investigates how growth factors keep neurons alive during
development and regulate the function of neuronal networks. Our
research focusses on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a
molecule known to be essential for a number of processes,
including memory in humans. Also, animal models have revealed
that its levels are decreased