Neurological disorders, particularly dementia, constitute arguably the greatest socioeconomic challenge to the aging European continent. There is growing realization that rodents can serve as models not just for basic neurobiological processes (e.g. synaptic transmission) but also for remarkably complex, primate-like and even human-like cognitive operations such as perception, memory, economics, social interaction, and decision making. Better rodent models for cognition are necessary to test theories on the molecular basis of neurological disorders and to test therapies: only through rodent behavioral neuroscience can the circuits that give rise to cognitive operations be examined and dissected, probed and manipulated. The aim of ERC Advanced Project ‘CONCEPT’ was to understand the neuronal bases of perception, memory and decision making. To achieve this aim, we have developed innovative instrumentation incorporating the following elements: (i) awake rodent interacting with its environment, (ii) precisely controlled sensory stimuli, (iii) imaging of animal’s action, (iv) electrophysiology with moveable microelectrode arrays, (v) optogenetics, (vi) integration and management of all incoming and outgoing signals. In the Proof of Concept, Neuromicronica, we developed a plan for bringing these instruments to a stage where they could constitute the initial product line for a start up company.
