Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

RCSI is leading world-class research to help understand how our brains and the nervous system work, with the aim of finding new therapies and strategies to treat and prevent some of the most debilitating neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Neuroscience and psychiatric research at RCSI encompasses the full spectrum of basic, translational and clinical research, with a particular emphasis on neurological disorders such as epilepsy and stroke, neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

To advance our understanding of how the brain works, utilising advanced technology and harnessing knowledge across disciplines is essential. Research approaches in this area at RCSI include: single cell and in vivo molecular imaging; intracellular signalling cascades and computational analysis of pathways; discovery and delivery of neurotherapeutics; the genetic and epigenetic basis of epilepsy; the role of non-coding RNA (including microRNA) in neurological disorders; social science, epidemiology, risk factors, neuropathology and biomarkers of brain diseases.

Building on world-leading pre-clinical and clinical research into epilepsy and motor neurone disease, RCSI leads the SFI research centre FutureNeuro. FutureNeuro aims to improve the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of chronic and rare neurological diseases which affect 700,000 people in Ireland. It links innovative neurotherapeutic development with genomic and biomarker-based patient stratification, a national eHealth infrastructure and a nationwide clinical network.