Neuronal Network Dysfunction in Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders
Growing evidence has indicated the existence of deleterious networks in the brain of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s chorea, depression or schizophrenia. The deleterious neural networks are formed on the basis of intimate interactions among key pathogenic factors. These deleterious networks could be the common pathway of these brain disorders, triggering of which by aging, certain genetic and environmental factors leading to a cascade of pathological alterations of the illnesses. Understanding the mechanisms that modulate connectivity and plasticity of neural circuitry is crucial to develop new network-based therapeutical strategies.
Principal Investigators
Jordi Alberch
Full Professor
Albert Giralt
Associate Professor
Merce Masana
Associate Professor
Manuel Rodriguez
Associate Professor
Technologies & Methods
- In vivo and in vitro optogenetics and optopharmacology
- In vivo fiber photometry
- In vivo neuronal reprogramming
- Mouse behavioural analysis
- Neuroimaging
- Immunostainings and in situ hybridization
- Advanced microscopy and confocal
- Calcium imaging
- Branching and dendritic network analysis
- Histological techniques
- Electrophysiology in slices of brain (MEA)
- Primary cultures of neural cells: Astrocytes, neurons, oligodendrocytes
- Biochemical tests: western blot, ELISA, enzymatic phosphatase and kinase activities
- Stereotaxic surgery in animals (mice and rats)
- Implantation of subcutaneous and intracerebral osmotic pumps in rodents
- Techniques of molecular biology: qRT-PCR and PCR
Research Team
Ivan Ballasch
Early Stage Researcher
Sara Conde-Berriozabal
Early Stage Researcher
Esther García-García
Early Stage Researcher
Laura Lopez
Early Stage Researcher
Anna Sancho
Early Stage Researcher
Carmen Andrade
Technician
Laia Sitjà-Roqueta
Early Stage Researcher
Melike Küçükerden
Postdoctoral Researcher
Alba Ramon-Lainez
Early Stage Researcher
Marcos Galan
Early Stage Researcher
Gisela Besa-Selva
Early Stage Researcher
Maryam Givehchi
Early Stage Researcher
Active Projects
Institut de Neurociències de la Universitat de Barcelona (UBNEURO)
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN). CEX2021-001159-M. Jordi Alberch Vie.
Enfermedades neurodegenerativas
Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo. CB06/05/0054. Jordi Alberch Vie.
Non-invasive dynamic neural control by laser-based technology (NEUROPA)
Unió Europea. 863214. Merce Masana Nadal.
Identificar los mecanismos convergentes activados por la huntingtina mutada y la falta de VPS13A responsables de la neurodegeneraciónselectiva de las neuronas estriatales par
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN). PID2020-119386RB-I00. Jordi Alberch Vie.
Contracte del Programa Ramon y Cajal
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. RYC-2016-19466. Albert Giralt Torroella.
Estudio sobre el papel de la familia de ikaros en la regulacion de las alteraciones neuroinmunológicas en la esquizofrenia
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN). PID2021-122258OB-I00. Albert Giralt Torroella.
Reprogramación y rejuvenecimiento neuronal preciso in vivo en la enfermedad de Alzheimer
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN). CNS2022-135391. Albert Giralt Torroella.
¿Puede la integración de la percepción visual en el colículo superior promover la resiliencia a los síntomas motores en enfermedades neurodegenerativas?
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN). PID2021-124896OA-I00. Merce Masana Nadal.
Elucidating the Superior Colliculus-related network properties and modulation in Huntington’s Disease mouse model to delay the onset and ameliorate severity of the motor symptoms (HD-SC)
Unió Europea. 101104889. Merce Masana Nadal.
PhD Workshop UBneuro
Ajuntament de Barcelona. 23S01014-001. Jordi Alberch Vie.
Fisiopatologia i tractament de les malalties neurodegeneratives
Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica. DN040756. Jordi Alberch Vie.
Selected publications
Ballasch, I., García-García, E., Vila, C., Pérez-González, A., Sancho-Balsells, A., Fernández, J., Soto, D., Puigdellívol, M., Gasull, X., Alberch, J., Rodríguez, M. J., Canals, J. M., & Giralt, A. (2023). Ikzf1 as a novel regulator of microglial homeostasis in inflammation and neurodegeneration. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 109, 144–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2023.01.016
Conde-Berriozabal, S., García-Gilabert, L., García-García, E., Sitjà-Roqueta, L., López-Gil, X., Muñoz-Moreno, E., Boutagouga Boudjadja, M., Soria, G., Rodríguez, M. J., Alberch, J., & Masana, M. (2023). M2 Cortex Circuitry and Sensory-Induced Behavioral Alterations in Huntington’s Disease: Role of Superior Colliculus. The Journal of Neuroscience, 43(18), 3379–3390. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1172-22.2023
Gabarró‐Solanas, R., Davaatseren, A., Kleifeld, J., Kepčija, T., Köcher, T., Giralt, A., Crespo‐Enríquez, I., & Urbán, N. (2023). Adult neural stem cells and neurogenesis are resilient to intermittent fasting. EMBO Reports, 24(12). https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202357268
García-García, E., Ramón-Lainez, A., Conde-Berriozabal, S., del Toro, D., Escaramis, G., Giralt, A., Masana, M., Alberch, J., & Rodríguez, M. J. (2023). VPS13A knockdown impairs corticostriatal synaptic plasticity and locomotor behavior in a new mouse model of chorea-acanthocytosis. Neurobiology of Disease, 187, 106292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106292
López-Terrones, E., Paz, V., Campa, L., Conde-Berriozabal, S., Masana, M., Artigas, F., & Riga, M. S. (2023). Differential Modulation of Dorsal Raphe Serotonergic Activity in Rat Brain by the Infralimbic and Prelimbic Cortices. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(5), 4891. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24054891
Miguez, A., Gomis, C., Vila, C., Monguió-Tortajada, M., Fernández-García, S., Bombau, G., Galofré, M., García-Bravo, M., Sanders, P., Fernández-Medina, H., Poquet, B., Salado-Manzano, C., Roura, S., Alberch, J., Segovia, J. C., Allen, N. D., Borràs, F. E., & Canals, J. M. (2023). Soluble mutant huntingtin drives early human pathogenesis in Huntington’s disease. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 80(8), 238. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-023-04882-w
Montalban, E., Giralt, A., Taing, L., Nakamura, Y., Pelosi, A., Brown, M., de Pins, B., Valjent, E., Martin, M., Nairn, A. C., Greengard, P., Flajolet, M., Hervé, D., Gambardella, N., Roussarie, J.-P., & Girault, J.-A. (2024). Operant Training for Highly Palatable Food Alters Translating Messenger RNA in Nucleus Accumbens D2 Neurons and Reveals a Modulatory Role of Ncdn. Biological Psychiatry, 95(10), 926–937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.08.006
Muñoz-Violant, S., Violant-Holz, V., & Rodríguez, M. J. (2023). Factors of well-being of youth with complex medical conditions from the experience of hospitalization and convalescence: A pilot study. PLOS ONE, 18(5), e0285213. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285213
Rodríguez-Urgellés, E., Casas-Torremocha, D., Sancho-Balsells, A., Ballasch, I., García-García, E., Miquel-Rio, L., Manasanch, A., del Castillo, I., Chen, W., Pupak, A., Brito, V., Tornero, D., Rodríguez, M. J., Bortolozzi, A., Sanchez-Vives, M. V., Giralt, A., & Alberch, J. (2023). Thalamic Foxp2 regulates output connectivity and sensory-motor impairments in a model of Huntington’s Disease. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 80(12), 367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-023-05015-z
Sancho-Balsells, A., Borràs-Pernas, S., Brito, V., Alberch, J., Girault, J.-A., & Giralt, A. (2023). Cognitive and Emotional Symptoms Induced by Chronic Stress Are Regulated by EGR1 in a Subpopulation of Hippocampal Pyramidal Neurons. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(4), 3833. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24043833
Solana‐Balaguer, J., Campoy‐Campos, G., Martín‐Flores, N., Pérez‐Sisqués, L., Sitjà‐Roqueta, L., Kucukerden, M., Gámez‐Valero, A., Coll‐Manzano, A., Martí, E., Pérez‐Navarro, E., Alberch, J., Soriano, J., Masana, M., & Malagelada, C. (2023). Neuron‐derived extracellular vesicles contain synaptic proteins, promote spine formation, activate TrkB‐mediated signalling and preserve neuronal complexity. Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, 12(9). https://doi.org/10.1002/jev2.12355
Solana‐Balaguer, J., Martín‐Flores, N., Garcia‐Segura, P., Campoy‐Campos, G., Pérez‐Sisqués, L., Chicote‐González, A., Fernández‐Irigoyen, J., Santamaría, E., Pérez‐Navarro, E., Alberch, J., & Malagelada, C. (2023). RTP801 mediates transneuronal toxicity in culture via extracellular vesicles. Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, 12(11). https://doi.org/10.1002/jev2.12378
Xu, Q., Vogt, A., Frechen, F., Yi, C., Küçükerden, M., Ngum, N., Sitjà-Roqueta, L., Greiner, A., Parri, R., Masana, M., Wenger, N., Wachten, D., & Möglich, A. (2024). Engineering Bacteriophytochrome-coupled Photoactivated Adenylyl Cyclases for Enhanced Optogenetic cAMP Modulation. Journal of Molecular Biology, 436(5), 168257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2023.168257