Menu mobile menu

The new DPZ aktuell is published

In the first issue of 2023, you can find out why more variability helps learning, what conflicts exist between baboons and humans on the Arabian Peninsula, and which photo motifs won the DPZ Photo Contest Award
Cover page DPZ aktuell 1/2023. Layout: Heike Klensang

Caspar Schwiedrzik's team at the DPZ and the European Neuroscience Institute (ENI) is investigating how learning processes are controlled in the brain. In a recently published study with human subjects, the researchers investigated how our visual system reacts when it has to process many variable stimuli during learning. Are there strategies on the neuronal level that lead to the task always being completed with the same performance? You can read about what the scientists have discovered starting on page 3.

Hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) are the only monkeys found on the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia has experienced an economic boom in the last 50 years, which has led to a high degree of urbanization in the baboons' range as well. Where there are a lot of people, there is also a lot of garbage, which provides ample food for the baboons. In addition, the monkeys in Arabia no longer have natural predators, which leads to immense increases in baboon populations, resulting in the destruction of infrastructure and hygienic and medical problems. A workshop on this topic was held in Saudi Arabia in January 2023, in which DPZ behavioral researcher Dietmar Zinner also participated. You can find out what he experienced there and what strategies were discussed to curb the "baboon problem" starting on page 22.

As every year, we again received impressive photos taken by our staff for the DPZ Photo Contest Award offered by the DPZ Sponsorship Society. The ten best photos in the categories of aesthetics, originality and science were displayed in the foyer for three months and shown on the intranet. DPZ employees voted on their favorites. The winning images can be admired starting on page 30 in the new issue.

In this issue, we also report on the current numbers of laboratory animals in Germany, explain how the pathogenicity of various herpes viruses can be studied in brain organoids, and review two well-attended accompanying events of our exhibition "Im Urwald".

We wish you a pleasant reading!

"DPZ aktuell" is published four times a year, has about 35 to 40 pages each and can be subscribed to free of charge. Of course, the magazine is also available in the building: You will find it at the reception desk or in the library.