One giant leap

Antwerp University’s Brainleap project is helping decipher secret communications of the mind

The organ that enables us to think is also the most difficult to understand: the brain. The project Brainleap, co-ordinated by the University of Antwerp, is using a new method to gain insight into the mind-boggling processes that take place in the minds of living things. This visionary research could lead to innovations that will improve the lives of the blind, deaf and paralysed.

The Brainleap project is an initiative of professor Michele Giugliano, who leads the Laboratory of Theoretical Neurobiology and Neuroengineering at the University of Antwerp (UA). Giugliano also co-ordinates the activity of participating researchers from the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Israel. Together, they want to find out how brain cells – also known as nerve cells or neurons – interact to determine the behaviour of animals and humans.

Andy Furniere
(April 24, 2013)

All is fair in war

Antwerp’s long-running Sinksenfoor struggles to find a new spot

Residents of Antwerp’s Scheldekaaien – the streets overlooking the wharfs of the river – have picked up the baton from their neighbours in the southern docklands in protesting against the Sinksenfoor taking place in their neighbourhood.

The Sinksenfoor is Antwerp’s annual fair held in the weeks following Pentecost. Last week a judge in the city issued a decision to ban the carnival from taking place in the southern docklands in response to a complaint brought by local residents concerning the noise caused by the 150 fairground attractions and crowds.

Alan Hope
(April 24, 2013)