Neurochemistry

The course intends to communicate an extensive overview of different neurotransmitter/receptor -and the signaling circuits in the nervous system. This includes amino acid-based neurotransmitters (such as e.g., dopamine, glutamate and serotonin), neuropeptides (e.g. endorphin) and other neuroactive compounds. The course focuses on pre- and postsynaptic events in neuronal signaling and the associated molecular mechanisms.

A further topic are neurotoxic effects of drugs, drugs of abuse and environmental toxins that affect neuronal signaling. Another central topic of the course will be on neurochemical methods to study synaptic mechanisms including mainly electrochemical techniques (electrophysiology, amperometry, fast scan cyclic voltammetry, FSCV), in vivo micro dialysis, super resolution microscopy, electron microscopy as well as mass spectrometry methods (LCMS, CEMS, imaging MS).

The course further aims to provide a concise theoretical background on neurochemical mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative- and psychiatric diseases. Several different cell- and animal models will be discussed as well as various neurochemical methods for studying disease mechanisms in vivo and in situ. Furthermore, it will be placed strong emphasis on clinical aspects of neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases, their pathology, risk factors, genetics, diagnosis and established and new treatment strategies. Here a particular focus will include clinical neurochemistry strategies for the development of novel biomarkers for these diseases and to establish those markers in clinical routine.