Neurologist wins the German Primate Center Award
The neurotransmitter dopamine is not only important for movements of the body but it also regulates the Visual stimuli processed in the brain. Thanks to a special experimental method, the physician and neuroscientist Simon Jacob is now the recipient of the most prestigious award for young scientists in Germany, namely the German Primate Center Award. Jacob will receive 1000 Euros in cash and a six-month scholarship at an institute of his choice with a primate-related research project. The award ceremony including a presentation by the prizewinner will be held on May 5 at 18:15 in the auditorium of the German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4 in Göttingen. Visitors are welcome to attend the event.
Dopamine is a so-called neurotransmitter, which is of importance for communication between neurons in the brain. It is long know, that the lack of dopamine can lead to impaired body momenent for example in Parkinson's disease, and that it influences the motivation and the addictive behavior of the people. Little research has been made on the effects of dopamine on higher brain performance. Finding the answer to this was the goal of the postdoctoral Simon Jacob who conducted research from 2010 to 2013 as part of a DFG fellowship at the Institute for Neurobiology, University of Tubingen.
Since dopamine is disrupted in schizophrenia patients, Simon Jacob's mission was to find out what the role of dopamine is in there visual perception. For this, he trained rhesus monkeys to signalize if they perceived a short optical stimulus or not. While the monkeys carried out these tasks, the researchers observed the communication of the brain cells. This is done by using microelectrodes, which record the electrical signals of the nerve cells in the brain. Sooner than anticipated, problems began since the desired data could not be obtained through the conventional method. With this, Jacob took advantage of a special method where he could give small amounts of dopamine targeted to individual nerve cells. With the addition of dopamine, it was detected that the nerve cells could reliably communicate with one another. "Our research is the initial evidence, that dopamine influences the signal strength in individual neurons and thus plays a role in the development of typical symptoms of schizophrenia" says Jacob.
Parallel to his scientific activity, the 36-year-old pursued a specialist training in neurology and psychiatry at the Charité in Berlin. "With my electrophysiological and neuropharmacological work with non-human primates I try to bridge the gap between basic research and medicine," says Simon Jacob. Since the structure and function of the brain of rhesus monkeys and that of humans are very similar, the findings are applicable to humans. "The results of this study are of interest for the understanding of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, since they are treated with drugs that intervene in the dopamine neurotransmission" said Jacob.
The justification by the Scientific Advisory Board of the DPZ was as follow: "Mr. Jacob has carried out an outstanding scientific work with far-reaching significance for the bio-medical research," The German Primate Center Award is presented annually to young scientists who conduct research with or about non-human primates.
Contact and suggestion for editors
Ass. jur. Michael Lankeit
Tel: +49 551 3851-114
E-Mail: mlankeit(at)dpz.eu
Dr. Simon Jacob
Tel: +49 30 450 517327
E-Mail: simon.jacob(at)charite.de
Dr. Susanne Diederich (PR)
Tel: +49 551 3851-359
E-Mail: sdiederich(at)dpz.eu
- Further information on the DPZ-Award can be found in our here.
- The program for the event can be found in the event calendar.
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