Nicola Palomero-Gallagher

Neurotransmitter receptors are essential in the communication between neurons, acting as molecular gatekeepers that mediate the transfer of signals across synapses. Their distribution patterns provide insights into how the brain is structured and operates on multiple levels—from basic sensory processing to complex cognitive functions. For example, receptors separate phylogenetically older regions (such as the limbic system) from more recently developed areas (like the prefrontal cortex), and segregates unimodal, multimodal and association areas. Furthermore, receptor architecturedistinguishes between functional networks, and also reflects hierarchical processing levels within a given functional system. Concluding, whereas the brain’s cytoarchitecture (the arrangement of neuronal cells) and myeloarchitecture (the distribution of myelinated fibers) define its physical structure, it is the receptors that help integrate this structure with the brain’s functional capabilities.

Professor Nicola Palomero-Gallagher graduated 1990 from the Sciences Faculty of the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Spain. She was a PhD student at the C. & O. Vogt-Brain Research Institute of the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany, between 1992 and 1999, and received the PhD in 1999. She is a Senior Researcher and Leader of the "Receptors" research group at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Germany, and an Associate Professor at the C. & O. Vogt-Brain Research Institute of Düsseldorf University, Germany. Her research aims to shed light on the relationship between the structural (cyto- and fiber-architecture), molecular (receptor-architecture) and functional organizational principles of the brain.

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