• Brain Research
    Brain Research
    Brain researchers want to understand how our brain works
     
  • Findings
    Findings
    The findings of brain research and their applications
     
  • Methods
    Methods
    A survey of methods used by brain researchers
     
  • Animals
    Animals
    Primates are essential for brain research
     
  • The Law
    The Law
    The legal situation of animal experimentation in Germany
     
  • Press
    Press
    What the press is saying about our brain research and animal experiments?
     
  • Links
    Links
    More information on animals in research
     
  • FAQs
    FAQs
    Frequently asked questions concerning animal experiments
     

Animal experimentation in research

PDF brochure issued by the Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation of the German Research Foundation DFG (in German only)



Our goal is to understand exactly how the brain works. We are firmly convinced that it is only with this knowledge that we can truly help persons suffering from the many disorders of perception, awareness and movement caused by a dysfunction in the brain.
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Brain Research on Non-Human Primates

The scientists in the department “Physiology of cognitive processes” at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics want to understand how the brain works. To do this they employ a variety of electrophysiological, imaging and anatomical methods. Some of the behavioral experiments are carried out on humans and others on animals, primarily on non-human primates. Although some of this research can be carried out using non-invasive methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, we can only understand the activity and function of complex neural networks by entering the brain itself.

Only by taking electrophysiological recordings from many single nerve cells in the network will scientists be able to unravel complicated processes such as thought and memory, knowledge that can then be used to help people in whom these brain functions are impaired as a result of disease, accidents or congenital defects.

Read A Short Introduction to Animals in Basic Biomedical Research by Nikos Logothetis, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics.

Aus aktuellem Anlass

Unsere Stellungnahme zu den Vorwürfen von Soko Tierschutz und der BUAV
Stellungnahme der Tierschutzbeauftragten zum Beschluss der Partei Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen.
 
 

Recordings from the Animal Facilities

More information on animal experiments