Inhaltsbereich

Research with a long tradition - neuroscience and psychiatric-psychosocial science at MedUni Vienna. The research into Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis is internationally renowned. Their scientists are among the most cited scientific authors in highly respected journals worldwide.

Nine organisational units are responsible for these traditional core areas (linked websites partly in German):

• The Centre for Brain Research
• The Institute for Medical Psychology in the Centre for Public Health
• The Clinical Institute for Neurology
• The University Clinic for Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Paediatrics.

As one of the few inter-disciplinary fields of research, this discipline was integrated into a unique organisational unit at an early stage. The Institute for Neurology was founded by Heinrich Obersteiner and it possesses a history that dates back to 1882. A separate Institute for Brain Research was founded in 1999; this was absorbed into the organisational structure of MedUni Vienna without change (expanded to include the field of medical cybernetics and artificial intelligence). The institute's reports of 2000-2002 demonstrate the high international alignment of this field of research. In the scope of EU programmes alone, 23 projects with an overall volume of EUR 4.5 million received funding.

The concept of the Nobel prize winner, Eric Kandel (Principles of Neural Science; McGraw Hill 2000) "Brain and Mind", provides a concrete summary of the focal points of the research in this field. They can also be viewed from the perspective of the "vulnerability-stress-model", which consists of a balanced consideration in relation to somatic, mental and social factors as an expression of integration.
Concepts of this nature also include the fact that one single contributory factor can represent the foundation of a specific disorder. This means that various disorders can influence the most different of factors in relation to life, therefore, these also require consideration.
Professorships for this field of research have only been created in recent years:

• Neuroimmunology
• Neurophysiology
• Biochemical and molecular pharmacology of the nervous system
• Neurobiology

The classification into focal points is as follows: 

1. Normal functions and functional disorders of the nervous system

• morphologically-functional connections (e.g. functional brain topography)
• lesion related disorders of the functional organisation
• mental structure and pathodynamic disorders of this structure

2. Pathophysiology, clinic, diagnostics and therapy in relation to neurological, neurosurgical and psychiatric illnesses

Neurological illnesses

• genetic-metabolic diseases of the nervous system
• degeneration/regeneration/plasticity in the nervous system - neurodegenerative diseases: e.g. Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease; other movement disorders
• neuroimmunology/inflammatory diseases of the nervous system
• brain tumour - neurooncology
• vascular diseases - stroke
• malformations
• epilepsy
• neurotraumatology
• neuromuscular and spinal diseases

Psychiatric diseases under consideration of

• biological-psychiatric aspects
• social-psychiatric aspects
• depth-psychological aspects
• behavioural medicine aspects

Continue to: Vacular medicine (Cluster)