Project description
The molecular landscape of memory formation
Memory is central for many aspects of behaviour, and there has been extensive progress over the years in understanding the underlying mechanisms. The domestic chick constitutes a good experimental model for studying imprinting, a process at the early stages of life associated with high learning efficiency and robust memory retention. The EU-funded CHARM-Vis project will investigate the molecular mechanisms implicated in visual imprinting in the domestic chick. Emphasis will be given on the chromatin landscape in the forebrain of chicks, the region where information on a visual imprinting stimulus is stored. For this purpose, scientists will employ next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics.
Objective
The molecular mechanisms underlying memory formation in vertebrates are not well understood, despite their paramount importance to neuroscience. CHARM-Vis aims at investigating changes in the chromatin landscape and transcriptional activity in a prototypical model system for memory formation: visual imprinting in domestic chicks.
The expected outcome of the project is remarkable. The use of single-cell, next-generation sequencing technologies will allow to study the system of interest at an unprecedented level of resolution, potentially leading to relevant new discoveries. Novel bioinformatics software pipelines will be developed for analyzing the data, and made available as free, open source software. All the data generated in the project will be made public as well, in order to benefit future research.
A highly interdisciplinary consortium of world leading institutions will be involved in the project, including experts in chick visual imprinting from Ilia State University, Georgia, bioinformatics specialists from Navarrabiomed, Spain, and biotechnology experts from Karolinska Institute, Sweden. The combined expertise and synergy of the international consortium, along with the long-lasting scientific experience of the applicant, will ensure the successful fulfillment of the proposal.
All the involved parties will greatly benefit from participating into the project. The applicant will deepen his expertise in bioinformatics and neuroscience, reinforcing his position as independent researcher. A mutual exchange of knowledge will take place among the involved institutions, whose know-hows are highly complementary. The project will also have beneficial, long-lasting effects after its end. We expect novel scientific questions to spring from the results of the project, stimulating the applicant as well as other researchers in performing further research, expanding the current knowledge and consolidating their careers.
Fields of science
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Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinator
0162 Tbilisi
Georgia