Jan 2024: We will contribute to the EBRAINS platform (European Brain Research Infrastructures) which has received €38 million by the European Commission for the EBRAINS 2.0 funding period (2024-26). 

EBRAINS develops tools and services to widely serve research communities in neurosciences, brain medicine, and brain-inspired technologies. It is an open research infrastructure that offers an extensive range of brain data sets, a multilevel brain atlas, modelling and simulation tools, and access to high-performance computing resources and robotics and neuromorphic platforms to researchers.

The project involves 59 partner institutions from 16 European countries. The lab of Valentin, together with colleagues from Vienna, Copenhagen, and Padua will contribute multimodal (PET/MRI/EEG) imaging data of the human brain. 

Dec 2023: Science Advances published our study on the energetic costs of signaling throughout the connectome of the human brain.

The paper, entitled An Energy-Costly Architecture of Neuromodulators for Human Brain Evolution and Cognition, gained some traction in social and press media:

• The Conversation (English) from University of Cambridge, UK
• Der Tagesspiegel (German)

Altmetric Attention Score (Dec 22th) 

Nov 2023: Throughout this year,  the lab was present at different venues with highly interdisciplinary topics

• Invited talk for Roman Belenya: Metabolic Connectivity Mapping across the entire human brain
  (OHBM, Canada) 
• Invited talk for André Hechler: The energetic footprint of predictive processing in the human brain
  (TeaP Conference of Experimental Psychologists, Germany) 
• Antonia Bose: Quantifying Cerebral Energy Metabolism Under Varying Levels of Systemic Glucose Availability
  (OHBM, Canada)
• Laura Fraticelli: Neuroenergetic Gene Networks in the Human Brain
  (IBRO, Spain)
• Katarzyna Kurcyus: fMRS Symposium
  (Bangor, UK)

Roman in the "BIG" auditorium at OHBM

Sept 2023: Awesome defense by Samira Epp!  Luckily she will extend her exceptional knowledge on quantitative PET- and MR imaging with an exploration of high-field MRI during a PostDoc period in my lab at FAU.

Aug 2023: hike-n-work, but the best is still the chocolate dumplings in the evening from Seppi!

Feb 2023: one of the better examples of "twinning clothes", happy birthday Toni!

Feb 2023: Valentin was invited to take part in the Silbersalz Institute, 2023 edition, a new initiative funded by the European Union to bring artists and scientists together with the idea to broaden the public perception of science. The year-long program includes Masterclass trainings with renowned mentors from the film, immersive VR, and arts sections. 

Jan 2023: Valentin will start a new lab at Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) in Erlangen-Nuernberg. He took the position of Full Professor for Neuroimaging of metabolic and immunological processes and will implement quantitative and metabolic brain imaging at ultra-high field MRI (7T). The official ceremony was followed by a great surprise from the lab with a proper graduation cap and pictures from all recent adventures into nature and decent food!

https://www.neuroradiologie.uk-erlangen.de/kontakt/visitenkarte/valentin-riedl-12158/

Oct 2022: My award-winning film LOST IN FACE on the live of faceblind Carlotta is still running in cinemas. This time, we screened at the Psychoanalytics days in Lübeck, Germany, and at the European Psychoanalytics Film Festival in London, UK, followed each time by a great discussion with fellow researchers and clinicians.

Aug 2022: We stayed in a bewitched spot, the Gruttenhütte, on the basis of the Kaisergebirge, Austria, for four days to fully immerse in the effects of muscle ache and nougat dumplings on brain metabolism.

June 2022: We had a pretty decent line of posters at the yearly conference of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM). We really enjoyed the personal contact with fellow brain imagers after 2 years of online-conferencing... As Samira is part of the Ecology and Sustainability Council of OHBM, the lab aimed to arrive in Glasgow via train (exciting rides for some of us).

March 2022: The fasting study last year was fun, but testing six bakeries in a row for the best Munich donuts was even more! .... winners were Rischart and Schmalznudel in case you're interested. 

Oct 2021: With some throwbacks in scanning due to COVID during last two years, we continue exploring novel ways of studying the gut-brain-axis. Here the whole group participated in a challenging week of fasting while at the same time studying our brains and microbiomes. Craving for coffee and chocolate afterwards! 

Sept 2021: After a year where film festivals were possible only online, LOST IN FACE finally hit German cinemas with real screenings in person! The protagonist of my film, Carlotta, and me had a phantastic cinema tour with lots of audience discussions. We were supported by several colleagues and experts on the panel to explain how the brain perceives the world and particularly faces. Carlotta can't recognise faces (prosopagnosia, "face blindness") but has developed a creative way of haptic self portraits that let her finally recognize herself. 

I am greatful to most interesting discussions with the audience and with colleagues from neuropsychology, genetics, neurology, psychiatry, and neuroscience, particularly Profs. Ingo Kennerknecht (Münster), Cornelia McCormick (DZNE, Bonn), Boris Suchan (Bochum), Ariel Schönfeld (Magdeburg), Rainer Schwarting & Lars Timmermann (Marburg), Ingrid Ehrlich (Stuttgart), and Kristina Hennig-Fast (Bielefeld).

Aug 2021: We met for a hiking adventure in the Bavarian mountains to climb some fabulous peaks! Obviously, such exercise allows for decent lunch at the hut afterwards with fatty cheese noodles (Käsespätzle). 

May 2021: TUM & LMU, the two Munich Unversities, join forces to form the Munich site of the new German Center for Mental Health (Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit, DZPG). I will be co-hosting the working group on "neuroimaging" within DZPG and serve as PI and TUM-coordinator for "neuroimaging". Kick-off of the Munich-site:

April 2021: We all get used to meet online. The group meets on a weekly basis and enjoys some insight into private rooms, discovering cats, weird plants, and balconies.