Project description
The active role of white matter in the brain’s information processing
The brain’s white matter consists of myelinated axons that connect different brain regions, enabling information transmission over long distances. Traditionally viewed as simple electrical conduits, white matter could also actively regulate information processing. The ERC-funded RanvierNodes-WMUnits project will focus on Ranvier nodes – small gaps along myelinated axons where spike signals are generated – proposing that they act as regulatory units for signal transmission. Combining state-of-the-art microscopy, patch clamp in mouse and human brain tissue and computer modelling, RanvierNodes-WMUnits will investigate how nodes regulate impulses. The focus will be on their membrane excitability, electrical and structural adaptability, and interactions with other cells. By uncovering these mechanisms, the study will reveal white matter’s critical role in brain function and enhance understanding of neural information processing.
Objective
The human brain is divided into the grey matter and the white matter (WM). The grey matter includes the synapses which are paramount for processing information, while the WM consists of myelinated axon bundles that conduct information between different brain areas. Brain information processing relies heavily on precise spike timing. This raises questions about the preservation of spike-encoded timing information as it propagates across WM axons, which can extend tens of centimetres before reaching synapses. My research challenges the view that myelinated axons merely serve as electrical conduits in the brain and proposes that the WM contains regulatory units essential for processing information along myelinated axons. I hypothesise that nodes of Ranvier, small unmyelinated gaps along myelinated axons where spikes are generated, function as these regulatory units.
My previous findings indicate that nodes of Ranvier play a crucial role in shaping axon excitability and conduction speed, because they can undergo rapid changes in the electrical properties of their membrane and slower changes in their structure. These changes are triggered by variations in neuronal activity and in the calcium activity of astrocytes, whose processes interact closely with nodes. Here, I will combine state-of-the-art microscopy with multiple patch-clamping in mouse and human brain tissue, and computer modelling. I will investigate the properties of nodes of Ranvier underpinning their impulse-regulating functions, focusing on four characteristics that endow them with this ability: their membrane excitability, electrical adaptability, structural adaptability and connections with other cells.
By dissecting the functions of nodes of Ranvier in this way, my research aims to deepen our understanding of neural network intricacies, offering insights into fundamental mechanisms of information processing in the brain, and emphasising the importance of the white matter in this processing.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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WC1E 6BT LONDON
United Kingdom
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