Professor Farooqi awarded a highly prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant.
Three research groups from the University of Cambridge, University College London and the University of Florida have been awarded a highly prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant to study the biology of instinctive behaviour.
Some types of animal behaviour are instinctive: animals know how to seek food, socialise with each other, escape from predators and defend their territory without having to learn these behaviours.
In contrast, in human beings, we tend to believe that how much we eat, our ability to socialise, the flight/fight response and aggressive behaviour are completely under personal control. Now by joining forces, the three teams known as the INSTINCT consortium, will embark on a highly ambitious research programme to deliver a step-change in our understanding of instinctive behaviour in animals and humans.
In previous research, the groups of Professor Sadaf Farooqi (Cambridge), Professor Yong Xu (Florida) and Professor Tiago Branco (UCL) have shown that pathways in a key part of the brain called the hypothalamus control a range of instinctive behaviours. In children, genetic mutations which disrupt these pathways can cause overeating, obesity and in some cases, autistic traits, aggression and even severe anxiety.
Now, funded by a 10 million Euro grant from the ERC, the researchers will study people with genetic changes which affect hypothalamic pathways using super high-resolution brain scans to visualise how the brain works in response to stress or when a person is hungry or full. They will then explore how the same genetic changes affect the metabolism of mice and their behaviour in a natural social setting. Using state of the art technologies, they will then unravel the precise way in which the wiring of the brain controls instinctive behaviour across species.
Professor Sadaf Farooqi said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with my colleagues Yong Xu and Tiago Branco on such a fundamental research question which has significant potential to impact conditions which harm human health such as obesity and anxiety”.
