Social and emotional disturbances are key symptoms of numerous mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety disorders, social phobias, and schizophrenia. These disorders, whose prevalence is on the rise, place an enormous burden on patients and our society. Effective treatment options are often lacking, and relapse rates are high. Despite intensive research worldwide, this is primarily due to our still limited knowledge of the causes and triggers of these complex psychopathologies.  

Since 2017, the Graduate Research Training Program (GRK) “Neurobiology of Social and Emotional Dysfunctions” at the University of Regensburg has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with a total budget of €10.5 million. The closing conference on this topic was held in Regensburg from May 8–10.  “We positioned the GRK at the intersection of basic neurobiological research and clinical research. Our goal was to investigate some of the mechanisms underlying these dysfunctions in numerous doctoral projects at the molecular level, at the level of nerve cells and their connections in the brain, and at the hormonal level. This requires reliable animal models that, for example, exhibit symptoms of depression or social anxiety,” explains Prof. Dr. Inga Neumann, spokesperson for the GRK and holder of the Chair of Neurobiology and Animal Physiology at the University of Regensburg. She further emphasizes that only an interdisciplinary approach to the study of complex behaviors can lead to success. As a result, three faculties were involved in the GRK: the Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine with the departments of Neurobiology and Biochemistry, the Faculty of Medicine with Psychiatry and Neurology, and the Faculty of Human Sciences with Biological Psychology. 

After three generations of doctoral students had earned their degrees in this neuroscience graduate program, the conference served as a fitting finale. International and national guests delivered engaging presentations on stress regulation, empathy, social anxiety, and aggression, and explained the significance of these behaviors in healthy individuals. Above all, however, they demonstrated the modern methods researchers now use to investigate genes, molecules, and neural networks in specific brain regions involved in disorders related to these behaviors.  
Among the large audience were, of course, current and former GRK doctoral students, their national and international advisors, collaborative partner, and interested guests from the university. The doctoral students from the most recent cohort demonstrated the skills they had acquired in the research group through short talks or poster presentations on their projects and proved themselves capable as session chairs.  Neumann notes with pride that the comprehensive training at the GRK has clearly paid off.