Memory bank: how do our brains work? Dr Andrew Doherty of Bristol University, UK, with a multi-photon microscope. He is imaging a brain slice as part of research into stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and other neurological states.

　　IMPORTANT research into how the brain functions has received new funding from the Medical Research Council. The work in the United Kingdom has implications for the future treatment of many medical conditions, including epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and the painful nerve complications that can result from traumatic injury and diabetes.

　　The award of 4.7 million pounds has been made to the Centre for Synaptic Plasticity - a joint venture between the University of Bristol, western England, and the Medical Research Council (MRC) - and will ensure that the centre’s vital work continues for a further five years.

　　The sum includes a grant of 1.2m pounds for the centre, as well as awards to individual members who were also highly successful in securing grants for their research.

　　Professor Zafar Bashir and Professor Malcolm Brown have received further funding for their work on recognition memory - the ability to recognise people, places and things on which we all rely to live normal, independent lives.

　　The loss of recognition memory is a main symptom of early Alzheimer’s disease. Bashir and Brown’s MRC grant will fund work aimed at understanding precisely what parts of the brain are involved in recognition memory and how the cells of the brain process the information that allows recognition memory to occur.

　　Professor David Wynick has secured a programme grant to continue his work on galanin, a small protein that is found in pain-sensing nerves of the body. Levels of galanin in the nerve increase by at least 100-fold after an injury or cut to the nervous system.

　　The MRC grant will allow him to study further the role played by galanin in the sensory nerves and may have important implications for the development of possible treatments for the painful nerve complications that result from traumatic injury (such as road accidents) and diabetes.

　　Other grants include an MRC Career Development Fellowship awarded to Dr Jack Mellor, and a Research Career Development Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust awarded to Dr Jon Hanley. These four-year fellowships will enable research projects into various aspects of synaptic plasticity.

　　Professor Graham Collingridge, the director of the MRC Centre, said: “I am delighted by the success of MRC Centre members in obtaining major grants despite the difficult funding conditions this year. I am particularly pleased that all the fellowship applications were successful because independent young scientists represent the future of the centre.”

　　The work of the MRC Centre for Synaptic Plasticity at Bristol University allows insights into memory and learning, processes that are severely affected by conditions such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. The centre’s mission is to advance our understanding of synaptic plasticity in a multidisciplinary and collaborative manner.

　　Studies are directed at a greater understanding of how, where and why the brain modifies synaptic strength during normal function (in particular, during learning and memory) and in certain pathological states (such as in Alzheimer’s disease).

　　The centre is administered from the university’s Department of Anatomy and is based within the School of Medical Sciences, home to one of the largest neuroscience communities in Europe. The centre provides excellent research facilities for molecular biology, electro-physiology and imaging work in a stimulating and multidisciplinary environment.

　　The Medical Research Council said its mission is “to improve human health through world-class medical research”. To achieve this, it supports research across the biomedical spectrum, from fundamental lab-based science to clinical trials, and in all major disease areas.

　　It works closely with the National Health Service and the UK health departments to deliver its mission and give a high priority to research that is likely to make a real difference to clinical practice and the health of the population.

　　The MRC receives annual grant-in-aid funding through the Office of Science & Innovation that is part of the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) - formerly the Department of Trade & Industry.

　　“Although government-funded, the MRC is independent in its choice of what research to support,” said a spokesperson. “About 3,300 researchers are supported by MRC-funded programmes in universities and hospitals. The MRC employs more than 3,300 people in the UK and overseas, in 29 research units and three research institutes.

　　“In 2005-06, the MRC spent 224 million pounds on research and training support in universities and teaching hospitals, and nearly 238m pounds in its own units and institutes.

　　“It has its own affiliated company, MRC Technology, that works with industry to translate its scientists’ findings into tangible health benefits. In 2004-05 its annual income from technology-transfer licensing increased to 34m pounds. The MRC is the UK’s largest non-commercial funder of clinical trials.”　  (Source: British Consulate-General in Chongqing)