Annika Lehner published her scientific results of a collaborative study from the DFG-funded CRC1540 "Exploring Brain Mechanics"
cand. med. Annika Lehner has published the scientific results of her medial doctorate thesis in an open access peer reviewed journal http://doi.org/10.1002/epi4.12963
Perineuronal nets” (PNN) are a specialized compartment of the extracellular matrix (ECM), especially surrounding highly active neurons of the mammalian brain. There is evidence that PNN play a role in memory formation, in brain maturation, and in some pathologies like Alzheimer´s disease, schizophrenia or epilepsy. In this study, we investigated the role of PNN in patients suffering from drug-resistant focal epilepsy compared to controls. We found that with increasing age, more neurons are surrounded by PNN. Similarly, all epilepsy patients but especially patients with better memory performance also had more PNN. This study raises further interest to study ECM molecules in the human brain under physiological and pathophysiological conditions.
We congratulate Annika for her excellent medical doctorate thesis resulting in a scientific publication in Epilepsia Open, which is open access at doi.org/10.1002/epi4.12963.
