When the Map Needs an Update: New Insights from Bonn Neuroscience Bonn, June 2026 – How does the brain integrate new information on familiar routes without redrawing its entire spatial map? Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have found an elegant solution. In a mouse study, the team showed that the hippocampus does not overwrite its stable spatial maps. Instead, it adds new information as separate layers – much like annotations in a navigation app that mark obstacles or events without changing the underlying route. When mice encountered unexpected air puffs on a familiar track, the CA3 circuits created a new “annotation” while the original spatial map remained fully intact. This dual-layer system allows the brain to preserve core spatial knowledge while flexibly encoding new experiences. “It’s as if the hippocampus uses a version control system,” explains co-senior author Prof. Heinz Beck. The findings, published in PNAS, provide important insights into how the brain balances stability and flexibility – with potential relevance for memory disorders and neurological conditions. Original publication: Miguel-López et al. (2026): Transformations of the spatial activity manifold convey aversive information in CA3. PNAS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2517639123

Bonn/Cologne, Germany – The Bernstein Node Bonn-Köln, also known as Computational Neuroscience Rheinland, has been launched as a leading hub for computational and systems neuroscience in Germany. It unites over 50 research groups from the Universities of Bonn and Cologne, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), and several Max Planck Institutes. The node focuses on a wide range of topics, from theoretical modeling and neuronal dynamics to systems and cognitive neuroscience. Key research areas include information processing in the brain, synaptic plasticity, neural coding, and modeling of both healthy and diseased nervous systems—addressing disorders such as epilepsy, movement disorders, and anxiety. With more than ten ERC grantees and other distinguished researchers, the initiative promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and excellence in brain research. Among the prominent contributors are: This new Bernstein Node strengthens Germany’s computational neuroscience landscape by fostering knowledge exchange, training young scientists, and advancing innovative approaches to neurological challenges. For more details, visit compneurorheinland.de or bernstein-network.de.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is setting up a new Research Training Group (RTG) at the University of Bonn. Entitled “Entwicklung und Epileptogenese von Dysplasien im Zusammenspiel distinkter ZNS-Zelltypen” (“Development and Epileptogenesis of Dysplasias in the Interplay of Distinct CNS Cell Types”), the program for doctoral students will see early-career researchers investigate experimental approaches for treating forms of epilepsy that do not respond to existing treatments. The DFG is to fund the RTG to the tune of some €6.1 million over the next five years. Focal cortical dysplasias (FCDs) are areas of congenital abnormal development in the cerebral cortex that emerge in the embryo while the brain is developing. They can cause epilepsy as well as cognitive and behavioral disorders that are particularly hard to treat with drugs. Findings have shown that communication between nerve cells and blood vessels and cooperation between macrophages and neurons play a role in FCDs, as do the adaptability of synapses and the transmission of signals by chemical messengers. The recently approved RTG “Entwicklung und Epileptogenese von Dysplasien im Zusammenspiel distinkter ZNS-Zelltypen” is setting out to understand these mechanisms and develop potential experimental treatments. “Our Research Training Group will enable us to train doctoral students from the fields of life sciences and medicine where basic science meets clinical practice,” explains the RTG’s speaker, Professor Albert Becker from the Institute of Cellular Neurosciences II at the University of Bonn. “Getting the full research picture about cortical dysplasias requires knowledge drawn from a range of specialist disciplines. If we’re to generate knowledge that can be used to develop treatments in the future, we’re going to need researchers who know their respective field like the back of their hand. Our projects have a transdisciplinary structure and give the doctoral students the chance to carve out their own neuroscientific profiles.”...

Prof. Dr. Frank Bradke—Senior Group Leader at the DZNE and Professor at the University of Bonn—has been welcomed as a new member of the North Rhine–Westphalia Academy of Sciences and Arts. He received his certificate from the Academy’s President, Prof. Dr. Gerd Heusch, in a ceremony held earlier this year. Bradke’s research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms behind axonal growth and regeneration in the central nervous system—work that underpins his standing as a leading international neurobiologist . He studied biochemistry, anatomy, and developmental biology in Berlin and London, completed his PhD at EMBL Heidelberg, and conducted postdoctoral research at UCSF and Stanford. Prior to his current roles, he led a research group at the Max Planck Institute in Martinsried. He has been a member of the Leopoldina since 2014 and was awarded the prestigious Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2016. —For more details, see the University of Bonn announcement:https://www.uni-bonn.de/de/neues/frank-bradke-in-die-nrw-akademie-der-wissenschaften-und-der-kuenste-aufgenommen