Neurobiologist Judith Mylius wins Leibniz Award for Young Scientists
Junior Scientist Award for brain research with primates
For her thesis Judith Mylius (35), a neuroscientist at the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology in Magdeburg researched the association of various cognitive processes such as listening skills, motivation and attention. Experiments with cynomolgus monkeys were able to show that the neurotransmitter dopamine affects the auditory center in the cerebral cortex, thereby improving the hearing process. With her results, she has laid the foundation for new treatment approaches in the deep brain stimulation, which is especially used in Parkinson's patients and people with learning disabilities.Both diseases are caused by a degeneration of the dopamine system in the brain. During treatment with deep brain stimulation, because of the dopamine deficiency in the basal ganglia area of the brain, an electrode with low power stimulates inhibits the overactivity. As a result, the muscle trembling (tremors) in Parkinson's patients improved substantially. Since humans have similar brain organization as well as similar cognitive abilities, the findings of Judith Mylius would not have been possible without primates. In contrast to models with mice and rats, result collected from primates are easier to implement in humans. Judith Mylius' findings are to be used in the near future for the development of new protocols for deep brain stimulation in stereotactic neurosurgery in Magdeburg.
Leibniz Association Young Scientists Award
The Leibniz Association Young Scientists Award is awarded annually for the best doctoral thesis in Leibniz institutes in the categories of "Natural Sciences and Engineering " as well as "Humanities and Social Sciences". The award is valued at 3,000 euros each and is this year once again donated by the Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB). From the list of suggestions made by the Leibniz Association scientific departments, a twelve-member jury of public figures and senior scientists led by the Leibniz-President Matthias Kleiner, selects the winners.
Original publications
Mylius, J. et al. (2015): Fast transmission from the dopaminergic ventral midbrain to the sensory cortex of awake primates. Brain Structure and Function. November 2015, vol. 220, iss. 6, pp 3273-3294. DOI: 10.1007/s00429-014-0855-0.
Huang, Y, Mylius, J. et al. (2014): Tonic effects of the dopaminergic ventral midbrain on the auditory cortex of awake macaque monkeys. Brain Structure and Function, advance online publication. DOI: 10.1007/s00429-014-0950-2.
Mylius, J. et al. (2013): Subcortical auditory structures in the mongolian gerbil: I. Golgi architecture. Journal of Comparative Neurology vol. 521, iss. 6, pp. 1289–1321. DOI: 10.1002/cne.23232