Neurological Screen

Coordinator:		Prof. Dr. Thomas Klopstock
Institution:		Friedrich-Baur-Institut, Neurologische Klinik der LMU
Homepage:		www.baur-institut.de/forschung

According to a report of the World Health Organization, neurological disorders such as migraine, stroke, Parkinson's disease and dementia affect up to 1 billion people worldwide. The neurological screen focuses on the characterization of mouse models relevant to human neurological diseases to increase knowledge on pathomechanisms and genotype-phenotype relations. Our comprehensive standardized primary screen gives an overall picture of basic neurological functions comparable to what is carried out in human patients. We look for coordination of movements, muscle function and activity in different paradigms and also with electrophysiological methods.
Our main research interests are neurodegeneration and aging as well as mitochondrial diseases as a tool to mimic the alteration in cellular metabolism that is also associated with the age-related decline of neurological functions. Additionally, we are working on dissecting the contribution of environmental factors on disease onset and progression. We therefore established oxidative stress for the challenge platform that will in close collaboration with the other screens of the GMC shed light on the complex gene-environment-aging interaction that influences clinical consequences of a given genetic configuration. Moreover appropriate mouse models (e.g. for neurodegenerative diseases) are used for therapeutic and neuroprotective trials.
                                  
                                
Additional relevant Internet links:
The German Mouse Clinic