Our laboratory

Mission and objectives

NutriNeuro “Nutrition and Integrative Neurobiology” is a unit of 80 researchers, clinicians, ITAs and students in Neuroscience and Nutrition, headed by Lucile Capuron since January 1, 2022. Since its creation in 2011, the number of scientists in this unit has grown steadily, thanks to its dynamism and attractiveness.

NutriNeuro’s research focuses on the relationship between nutrition and the brain, with the aim of defining optimal nutrition in humans to prevent the development of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric pathologies. They use integrated approaches, from cell to behavior, and translational, clinical and preclinical approaches, and rely on innovative, high-performance in-situ experimental facilities and technological platforms at the University of Bordeaux (BIC, biochemistry platform, Proteomics, Flow Cytometry, etc.). The skills present in the unit cover a wide range of disciplines, including behavioral neuroscience, neurophysiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular neurobiology, psychology, psychiatry, and experimental and medical endocrinology.

The social, societal, economic and medical spin-offs of the research carried out at NutriNeuro are manifold, both in terms of the scientific knowledge it generates, and in terms of innovations in nutrition and medicine, through the identification of nutritional, metabolic or other biomarkers enabling patients to be stratified and primary, secondary and tertiary prevention strategies to be developed through nutrition.

Research areas

The laboratory is organized around three research teams:

  • The NutriPsy team (Director Lucile Capuron) aims to better understand how nutrition influences mental health, by identifying the immuno-inflammatory mechanisms involved in the development of neuropsychiatric pathologies and their resistance to standard therapeutic approaches, with a view to proposing targeted and personalized nutritional interventions to prevent or treat mental disorders.
  • The NutriMind team (Director Sophie Layé) aims to understand how food-related molecules (nutrients, micronutrients and olfactory molecules) influence brain functions and behaviors in order to develop nutritional strategies to prevent or delay cognitive decline in a personalized nutrition context.
  • The Food Circus team (Director Guillaume Ferreira) aims to establish causal mechanistic links between nutritional status and relevant symptomatic behavioral dimensions by identifying the neural circuits involved and the cellular/molecular mechanisms involved.

What’s more, in 2015, NutriNeuro developed a transfer unit (NutriBrain) whose aim is to enhance and transfer the laboratory’s expertise to the industrial world. Backed by the NutriNeuro laboratory, this unit aims to structure research partnerships with industry for the development of products that modulate brain function.

The unit’s scientific strategy is based on three complementary approaches:

  • An in vivo preclinical approach, carried out on different animal models, combining nutritional approaches, molecular biology, physiology and behavior to study how nutrition influences brain function.
  • An in vitro preclinical approach using neuronal or glial cell cultures and brain organoids to study the mechanisms of action involved in the effects of specific micronutrients, including vitamins, omega-3s, polyphenols, etc.
  • A clinical orientation to test in humans the hypotheses developed from experimental data, and to develop specific nutritional approaches for better prevention and personalized management of mood disorders and cognitive aging.

Collaborations and partnerships

This research unit is supervised by INRAE (Human Food and Animal Genetics scientific departments), the University of Bordeaux and the Bordeaux National Polytechnic Institute (INP), and is attached to the INRAE Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux center. NutriNeuro is part of the Bordeaux Neurocampus department of the University of Bordeaux, which brings together 6 research laboratories specializing in neuroscience.

On a national scale, NutriNeuro is developing long-term collaborations with numerous scientific partners in France (University Hospitals, CNRS, INRAE, INSERM and universities).
The unit is a member of Labex BRAIN (Bordeaux Region Aquitaine Initiative for Neurosciences) and an integral part of the Bordeaux Initiative for Neurodegenerative Disorders (BIND), a center of excellence for neurodegenerative diseases. NutriNeuro has also established close collaborative links with the FondaMental Foundation, a scientific cooperation foundation dedicated to care and research in the field of mental health.

Internationally, the unit maintains numerous collaborations, notably in America (Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the USA), Asia (Taiwan), and Europe (Germany, Austria, Spain, Ireland and Italy).
NutriNeuro has developed an associated international laboratory (LIA), OptiNutriBrain, co-directed by Sophie Layé and Frédéric Calon (Quebec), and an international research network (RRI), Food4BrainHealth, which brings together research teams of excellence in nutrition and neuroscience from INRAE, 5 Canadian universities and 3 French universities. This unique structure enables the deployment of research, training and transfer activities in the field of Nutrition and Brain, for the development of functional foods and health ingredients.

Education

Training through research is one of NutriNeurO’s priorities, as its teaching researchers are involved in Master’s courses at the University of Bordeaux (Master’s in Nutrition and Food Science, Master’s in Neuroscience). The unit also welcomes numerous PhD