Neuroscience: a new cutting-edge research centre for brain research
On Wednesday 28 June 2023, the Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience (NeuroPSI) was inaugurated by Estelle Iacona, President of Université Paris-Saclay, Laurence Piketty, Deputy Administrator General of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), and Antoine Petit, CEO of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
Located on the CEA site at Saclay, NeuroPSI is a research institute for fundamental neurosciences with a multidisciplinary and multi-scale approach. It focuses on understanding the brain as a complex dynamic system – a major challenge for 21st century science. Alongside its neighbour, NeuroSpin - a CEA facility, the internationally renowned NeuroPSI is one of the largest research centres for neuroscience in the Paris region.
Built by the CEA on the Saclay site, the new NeuroPSI building is home to the joint research unit of the same name, NeuroPSI (CNRS/Université Paris-Saclay). It also houses the national Paris-Saclay TEFOR platform (CNRS/INRAE/Université Paris-Saclay), which aims to facilitate access to aquatic models for basic and applied research. The models developed by Paris-Saclay TEFOR are fish, and in particular zebrafish and xenopus.
Spread across 16,000 m², approximately 20 research teams and some 240 scientists work together to advance our understanding of the brain. The teams combine experimental and theoretical approaches to understand how different types of neural architecture control our perception, behaviour and cognition.
These questions are dealt with from the perspective of brain development: how does a cell become a neuron, and then how do neurons assemble into functional circuits to form an adult brain. The teams at NeuroPSI study how evolution shapes these circuits to adapt physiology and behaviour to their environment and create brain diversity between species and people.
The Paris-Saclay Neuroscience Institute was inaugurated on 28 June 2023. From left to right: Antoine Petit, CEO of the CNRS; Estelle Iacona, President of Université Paris-Saclay; François Rouyer, Director of NeuroPSI; Laurence Piketty, Deputy Administrator General of the CEA; Jacob Celnikier, Founding Architect at Celnikier & Grabli Architectes; and Dietmar Feichtinger, Founder of the agency Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes.
© Christophe Peus