Neuroscience research in Europe
The European Commission has published the final report of the COST ad hoc working party on neuroscience coordination in Europe. The report, "Neuroscience in Europe", provides an overview of current activity in the field of neuroscience and proposes possible priority areas for collaborative ventures between neuroscience laboratories in Europe. The COST ad hoc working party on neuroscience coordination in Europe was set up in October 1992 and held its first meeting in February 1993. Its brief was: - To identify the state-of-the-art of neurosciences in Europe; - Draw up an inventory of activities underway, possibly with the help of the Commission services; - Prepare the ground for research in neurosciences to be carried out in the different cooperative bodies in Europe by recommending future useful areas of joint research and the most appropriate bodies to undertake the work. The report prepared by the group addresses twelve main areas of neuroscience research: - Developmental neurobiology; - Molecular neurobiology; - Sensory processing; - The nervous control of movement and motor behaviour: normal function and disease; - CNS regulation of the autonomic system; - Neuroendocrinology and neuroimmunology; - Areas of cognitive neuroscience in Europe; - Learning and memory; - Neuroscience and mental disorders; - Ageing; - Neurodegenerative diseases; - Brain and spinal cord injury. Two main areas are identified as being particularly suitable for a transnational approach between collaborating laboratories. These are areas in which European neuroscientists have already made pioneering efforts but where further advances require international collaboration: - Growth and repair processes in the central nervous system; - Neurobiology of cognition and perception.