Project description
A new approach to neuropsychiatric disorders
Neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, affecting approximately 1 billion individuals globally, present a significant public health challenge. These disorders manifest through diverse cognitive and social impairments, profoundly impacting daily life and long-term outcomes. Despite the widespread prevalence, effective pharmacological interventions remain elusive. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the PRESERT project targets the serotonin transporter (SERT) as a potential therapeutic avenue for mitigating social dysfunctions in neuropsychiatric disorders. Specifically, the project aims to understand SERT’s impact, its neural circuits, and whether modulating its function can enhance social cognition. By bridging molecular understanding with brain circuitry, PRESERT lays the foundation for innovative neuropsychiatric treatments.
Objective
Neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders are a heterogeneous group of mental diseases affecting about 1 billion people worldwide. Common alterations are in the cognitive and social domains, having a critical impact on the public health, daily life, and long-term outcomes of affected patients. Unfortunately, efficient pharmacological interventions are still missing. The serotonin transporter (SERT) re-uptakes serotonin after synaptic release and is an important clinical target. SERT is widely expressed in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an area profoundly engaged in socio-cognitive functions, and can be targeted by inhibitors -drugs acting by blocking the transporter- or by releasers- drugs acting as a substrate of SERT and then reversing its transport direction. The SERT releaser MDMA showed promising results for treating social dysfunctions in post-traumatic stress disorder and autism spectrum disorders and its pro-social effect seems dependent on SERT-reverse transport. Considering the efficacy of the SERT-releaser MDMA in modulating social dysfunctions, together with the need of SERT-reverse functions in mediating MDMA pro-social effects, and the role of the PFC in the regulation of socio-cognitive functions, the aim of PRESERT is to evaluate the impact of SERT on social cognition in mice. To achieve this overarching goal, PRESERT is divided into three specific objectives: i) investigating the impact of the PFC-expressed SERT on social cognition, ii) identifying the origin and connectivity of the underlying SERT-expressing circuits, and iii) evaluating if social cognition can be differentially modulated by the reverse transport (i.e. efflux) or the simple inhibition of SERT. As a direct consequence, PRESERT has the potential to link SERT, its molecular functions, and the underlying brain circuits to specific aspects of social cognition setting the ground for the development of innovative treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine psychiatry posttraumatic stress disorder
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
16163 GENOVA
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.