Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience (Neuro-PSI)

The Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience (NeuroPSI) UMR 9197 is a joint research unit of the CNRS and the University Paris-Saclay.

NeuroPSI comprises 21 research teams grouped into 3 scientific departments:

• Department of Cognitive & Network Neuroscience (CNN)
• Department of Development, Evolution & Cell Signaling (DECS)
• Department of Integrative & Computational Neuroscience (ICN)

The unit also includes platforms and services dedicated to research activities as well as two international antennae  (EITN et INCF France).

THE SCIENTIFIC PROJECT OF NeuroPSI

NeuroPSI’s scientific project is based on a multidisciplinary and multi-scale approach for studying the nervous system. Our main objective is to understand the anatomical organization and operating principles of neural circuits that control behaviour in response to the environment.

We use a variety of animal models and combine experimental and theoretical approaches to understand how different types of neural architectures generate distinct behaviours.

Some of our researchers aim to determine how cellular interactions lead to diverse neuronal populations and how these populations assemble into functional circuits during development.
Others work to understand and model how these circuits operate in the adult nervous system to integrate different sensory modalities, generate behaviour and control cognitive functions. We also study, through comparative and genetic approaches, how evolutionary forces shape the brain and create individual brain diversity in natural populations.

Discover more about our research themes

Read more: diversity in action, an interview with François Rouyer, the director of NeuroPSI