20th DDc Lunch Retreat – Research unit proposal: Metabolic flexibility of the nervous system

We are planning a research unit, which aims to better understand the metabolic flexibility of the brain. The current perception of metabolism in the brain is that it is very inflexible. Changes that are induced by stress factors such as malnutrition or diseases are generally considered pathological. Lately, however, some findings suggest that metabolism in the brain is more flexible than assumed. In particular, the glial cells seem to be able to react very flexibly to different situations. We now want to better understand which metabolic profiles of the different cell types (different glial cells and neurons) can be “normal” or beneficial under which circumstances (and for what period of time) and which changes in metabolism are actually pathological. We will focus on changes in brain metabolism due to malnutrition/undernutrition. We will investigate which features allow metabolic flexibility and how the underlying regulatory networks look like. This includes both the regulation of metabolic changes in the individual brain cells, but also the provision of nutrients by the periphery, i.e. the communication between brain and periphery.