The Trondheim node consists primarily of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience (KISN) at NTNU. Since its inauguration, the Institute has focused on neural circuit mechanisms of behaviour, using spatial representation as a window to understanding cortical computation. In collaboration with Menno Witter, who joined in 2007, Edvard and May-Britt Moser uncovered key elements of the neural circuit for spatial mapping and navigation. In 2014 they received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this work.
There are currently 11 research groups at KISN, and the total number of employees is about 150. KISN collaborates closely with St. Olav’s hospital and the MR centre through the recruitment of joint staff to work on the new 7T MR scanner as well as joint participation in projects funded by the Regional Health Authorities and the K. G. Jebsen Centre for Alzheimer’s Disease. KISN has hosted two Research Council of Norway-driven Centres of Excellence (2003-2012 and 2013-2022) and recently received funding for a third Centre of Excellence (Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex; 2023-2033).
