Nervous System and Mental Health

There is a growing incidence of nervous and mental illnesses. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over one billion people worldwide suffer from disorders of the central nervous system, such as brain and spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's syndrome, dementia, stroke, epilepsy, schizophrenia or depression. The quality of life of patients with chronic pain is also considerably impaired. These illnesses not only cause great human suffering, but also enormous costs for the healthcare system. These factors call for the urgent improvement of medical research.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over one billion people worldwide suffer from illnesses of the central nervous system. Besides injuries of the brain and the spinal cord, these include a large number of neurological or mental illnesses, such as Parkinson's syndrome (150,000 to 200,000 patients in Germany), dementia (estimated 1.2 million), stroke (about 250,000 annually) and epilepsy (400,000 to 800,000). These illnesses not only cause great human suffering, but are also linked with enormous costs - stays in hospital, loss of working hours, early retirement and, in many cases, life-long care. These social, ethical and economic reasons call for the urgent improvement of medical research in this field.

Methodical and technological innovations have facilitated a further understanding of the development and course of neurological and mental illnesses. New findings enable better opportunities for diagnosis and therapy: Human genome research has improved our knowledge of genetic influences on different illnesses of the nervous system and has provided approaches for developing entirely new medical drugs. The impact of medical drugs can now be studied using functional imaging methods. Modern imaging techniques enable a non-invasive study of brain functions.

New Insights

Often silenced and repressed, mental illnesses in particular remain a taboo subject - an additional burden for those affected. And these are in no way isolated cases: five per cent of people in Germany, for example, currently suffer from a depressive disorder - around four million men and women. Up to ten per cent of German citizens experience at least one episode of severe depression in their lives. Alone these figures on depression, the most widespread mental illness, prove that mental disorders are not marginal. With funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, numerous studies are scientifically analyzing mental illnesses in order to provide help for those affected. The BMBF brochure "Seele aus der Balance. Erforschung psychischer Störungen" wants to contribute to leading a discussion of mental illnesses on an objective level, to explaining the state of current research, and to moving the subject out of the taboo zone.

Research on the senses has made great progress in recent years. Biomedical and chemical methods provide new insights into the functioning of our senses. Research into seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling is clearly illustrated in the BMBF's new brochure "Die Erforschung der menschlichen Sinne". This also shows how patients benefit from research results: through more precise diagnosis of diseases, innovative procedures of relief and healing, and through targeted support in everyday life.

Neuroscientific topics are funded under the "Health Research - Research for People" programme. Furthermore, the BMBF supports neuroscientific research under other programmes, such as Biotechnology, Microsystem Technology and Information Technology.

Research projects on diseases of the central nervous system are funded under various funding priorities within the framework of health research programmes:

Competence Networks in Medicine

Competence Networks in Medicine are transregional networks dealing with defined clinical syndromes which closely interlink research and care. The first four competence networks in the neurosciences were established in 1999: Depression and Suicidal Behaviour, Schizophrenia, Stroke and Parkinson's Syndrome. The Dementia competence network was established in 2002.

Brain-Net is the German reference centre for diseases of the central nervous system. It centrally archives biological material in a biomaterial bank (for example, nervous tissue, serum and liquor samples) and stores disease-specific clinical patient data in an anonymized form, which is then available for further research.

The competence networks in the neurosciences receive funding totaling about 71 million euros for up to nine years. After this, they are to continue their work self-sufficiently and attract research funding.

National Genome Research Network (NGFN)

Functional genome research provides new opportunities for combating previously insufficiently treatable illnesses. In addition to gaining a better understanding of hereditary diseases, which are caused by mutations within an individual gene, we expect to gain a better understanding of those diseases which result from the complex interaction of changes in many genes and disease-specific environmental influences.

In this field, the BMBF funds seven medical genome research groups within the framework of the National Genome Research Network (NGFN). They deal, for example, with questions regarding Parkinson's, schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorders (manic depressive diseases), epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, as well as neurological influences in illnesses, such as addiction, eating disorders or dyslexia. In these transregional research groups, certain genes and proteins are identified with the help of genome research, in order to systematically analyze the causes of diseases at a molecular level and to create a new foundation for the development of effective therapeutic strategies and new diagnostic procedures. The BMBF made approximately 41 million euros available to functional genome research on diseases of the central nervous system between 2008 and 2011. Following a successful interim evaluation, funding for five groups has been extended to 2013.

Second generation competence networks have been funded since 2007, the first of which was the Krankheitsbezogene Kompetenznetz Degenerative Demenzen (Disease-related Competence Network for Degenerative Dementia, or KNDD). It was followed by the Krankheitsbezogene Kompetenznetz für Multiple Sklerose (Disease-related Competence Network for Multiple Sclerosis) in 2009.

Further information on the study of neurological and mental illnesses is available here.