Final Report Summary - SALIENSY (Mapping the synaptic circuits for salience)
The SalienSy project was funded to understand the cellular basis and the hierarchical organization of neural circuits underlying a primary process that is “pursue a reward, escape a danger” which is critical for survival, and disrupted in neuropsychiatry. Outcomes of the project were the identification of neuronal plasticity mechanisms underlying the encoding of aversive events ultimately important for behavioural actions. Furthermore, the project identified structural and cellular targets fundamental for behavioural phenotypes typical of disorders such as depression and addiction. Thus, the SalienSy project unraveled neurobiological substrates and potential therapeutical avenues for salience encoding and aspects of psychiatry, respectively.