Nom i cognoms / Name and surname
Melike Küçükerden
Afiliació / Affiliation
University of Barcelona
Programa de finançament europeu en que s’enmarca aquest projecte? / European funding programme in which this project is being carried out?
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Schemes
Títol del projecte / Project title
Elucidating the Superior Colliculus-related network properties and modulation in Huntington’s Disease mouse model to delay the onset and ameliorate the severity of the motor symptoms
Número del projecte / Project number
101104889
Breu explicació del projecte / Brief explanation of your project
Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a progressive monogenic neurodegenerative movement disorder. Motor symptoms include involuntary movements and impaired voluntary movements, resulting in balance problems and falls. Understanding early mechanisms can shape crucial therapeutic strategies to delay the onset and minimise the severity. Research has shown that impairments in visual perception and eye movements often appear before motor symptoms. The superior colliculus (SC) is repeatedly linked to the control of eye movements in order to produce responsive motor action as a sensorimotor integration centre and is found to have altered functional connections in the Huntington´s disease mouse model.
The project investigates the role of the SC in integrating rapid visual information with motor actions and how this process is affected in HD. In particular, it examines the neural pathways between the M2 motor cortex, which initiates motor planning, and the SC. To achieve this, the team uses advanced technologies: fibre photometry to measure real-time brain activity, optogenetics, and newly developed phytochromes to precisely stimulate or inhibit neural circuits with light. The ultimate goal of HD-SC is to develop new intervention strategies that can slow disease progression or reduce the severity of motor symptoms by targeting these early circuit changes. Such approaches have the potential to benefit not only HD but also other neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease, which show similar early sensorimotor deficits.
Enllaç a la pàgina web del projecte / Link to your project website
https://www.ub.edu/portal/web/dp-biomedicalsciences/group-masana
