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From the SEA to the SOLution. An integrative assessment of marine pollution in a changing Arctic

Marine chemical pollution poses known threats to human health and to biodiversity, ecosystem and societal services. The Arctic is a major sink of global mercury (Hg) pollution. Arctic sediments, sea and glacial ice constitute vast Hg reservoirs. Recent studies raise concerns about their increasing role as local Hg sources. In a rapidly warming Arctic, the consequences of potentially increased environmental Hg on marine biota remain unknown. The objective of SEASOL is to identify the pathway(s) of Hg bioaccumulation in marine food webs of the High Arctic Kongsfjorden (Svalbard). This changing glacial fjord is recognised as a ‘natural laboratory’ of climate change in the Arctic. The fellow’s earlier research has shown the sole measurement of Hg levels as insufficient to connect biotic Hg dynamics to environmental change, whereas the analysis of Hg stable isotopes proved to be a promising tool for source discrimination and biotic transfer. SEASOL will build on the novel application of stable isotope analysis to identify the sources of Hg within the fjord system and the pathways to Hg accumulation within sentinel marine species. On the short-term, the study will provide fundamental knowledge to help understand how emerging sources of Hg from rapid environmental change will impact Arctic marine predators. On the long-term, SEASOL will contribute to the development of early-warning, adaptive management strategies, including modelling, for mitigating the cumulative impact of pollutants and climate change on Arctic marine species. This multidisciplinary approach and the central position of the host institution (Norwegian Polar Institute) in the field of Polar Research will equip the Fellow with a broad set of new skills and lay the foundation for building her specific niche as a future leader in marine pollution science.

Optimization of Free Space Optical Communication Link based Drones for Search and Rescue Operations in the Arctic Region

The Arctic region is witnessing more frequent shipping accidents than ever which require accurate search and rescue operations. The existing communication systems use drones with radio frequency (RF) technology, which has limited bandwidth and cannot offer 4G/5G connectivity due to harsh weather constraints. It further limits the capacity of drones and affects the resolution of images and videos. The current research proposes to design free space optical communication (FSOC) link-based drones that can enhance connectivity between multiple drones and rescue ships as well as the capacity of drones to produce high resolution images and videos. The proposed FSOC-based drones can provide highspeed connectivity than the existing RF technology. The research will collect atmospheric turbulences data from the Arctic region and use it for designing the FSOC link. Furthermore, to enhance the capacity of FSOC-based drones, the research will design advanced multiplexing schemes (Mode Division Multiplexing and Orthogonal Code Division Multiple Access) and to ensure link stability, omnidirectional receiver will be designed. The research will further evaluate the performance of proposed FSOC link under the impact of various atmospheric turbulences. The expected outcomes of this research will lead to the optimisation of FSOC-based drones in expanding search areas and improving communication systems for SAR operations in the Arctic region.

AQUASERV – RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES FOR SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE, FISHERIES AND THE BLUE ECONOMY

The overarching objectives of AQUASERV are to bring together, enhance, integrate and customise RI capacities (including facilities, instruments and expertise) and through the provision of transnational access (on-site or remote) and/or virtual access, to significantly further scientific advance and promote and facilitate the implementation of European Common Fisheries Policy, the Farm to Fork Strategy, the Sustainable Blue Economy and the European Green Deal. 

AQUASERV will achieve these objectives by offering scientists from academia and business remote and on-site transnational (TA) and virtual (VA) access to an advanced set of European research infrastructures and its nodes related to research and management of marine and freshwater biological resources, food and biotechnology. These include the European Marine Biological Resource Centre ERIC (EMBRC), the Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems ERIC, The Aquaculture for Excellence for Aquaculture in Fish (Aquaexcel), and the Infrastructure for Promoting Metrology in Food and Nutrition (METROFOOD), as well as the International Council for Exploration of the Sea, both a service provider and stakeholder. It also includes the Research Infrastructure for Science and Innovation Policy Studies (RISIS) to bring contributions from the social sciences and to bring results nearer to policy makers ensuring societal impact. 

To enhance, integrate and customise RI capacities, collaboration between partners and new pipelines to meet the objectives of the project will be developed during the first 3 years and will make available  to users.  To ensure these capacities will not be lost, a sustainability work package involving stakeholders will address the project legacy.  

To maximize impact, AQUASERV will build a communication network among the partnership and develop a dissemination and outreach programme. Furthermore, an advanced training programme will be developed to capture future users and will be updated during the p

Aqua Research Infrastructure Services for the health and protection of our unique, oceans, seas and freshwater ecosystems

AQUARIUS will provide a highly comprehensive suite of integrated research infrastructures appropriate to addressing significant challenges for the long-term sustainability of our unique oceans, seas and freshwater ecosystems. For the first time, diverse research infrastructures will be combined to facilitate the work of researchers and key stakeholders focused on challenges and opportunities for both marine and freshwater systems. An impressive range of 57 research infrastructure services will be made available to include research vessels, mobile marine observation platforms, aircraft,  drones, satellite, sensors, fixed freshwater and marine observatories and test sites, experimental facilities, and sophisticated data infrastructures. AQUARIUS will support the development phase of the EU Mission to Restore our Ocean and waters by 2030, the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership, the European Green Deal, and international climate initiatives. It will also be an essential component in achieving the European Digital Twin of the Ocean and the UN Decade for Ocean Sciences. The needs of researchers will be met through a robust and transparent system of transnational access funding Calls, facilitated by centralised user-friendly access portal. The Call programme will be informed through stakeholder engagement and brokerage events. Projects to be selected for Access must convincingly integrate multiple infrastructures and contribute to the core policy objectives of Mission Ocean, that is, to protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity; to prevent and eliminate pollution of our oceans, seas and waters; and to ensure a sustainable, carbon-neutral and circular blue economy. A thematic and geographic focus will be the hallmark of the proposed transnational Calls, aligning with the Lighthouse Regions, that is, the Baltic and the North Sea Basins, Black Sea, Atlantic/Arctic, and Mediterranean Sea along with their associated rivers.

Advance Marine Research Infrastructures Together

The European Ocean Observing System (EOOS) is the foundation of European ocean knowledge. The core Marine Research Infrastructures (MRIs) focused on ocean observing (EMSO, EURO-ARGO and ICOS ERICs; EuroFleets+, EuroGoShip, GROOM RI, JERICO RI and MINKE as INFRA projects) are the main providers of in situ ocean data for the EOOS and Copernicus, and the primary managers of instrumental capacity supporting fundamental research.
These MRIs are aware that the lack of effective cross coordination prevents them from fully supporting frontier research, while the lack of integration makes it difficult to reach a critical mass for EOOS and results in significant cost duplication. Accordingly, AMRIT gathers these MRIs together with OceanOPS/WMO international coordination experience with the objective to:
- ensure seamless operation of marine observation platforms ;
- ensure the full nominal use of sensors and accelerate their evolution ;
- exploit the complementarity of the various observation platforms ;
- ensure the overall coherence of the ocean data value chain.
To achieve these objectives, AMRIT will design and implement an EOOS Technical Support Center (EOOS TSC) for
- a fully integrated information service across the data value chain from early planning stages to final delivery to users;
- a cross-platform fully standardised data acquisition methodology for Essential Ocean Variables;
- a collaborative federal structure to operate these services, relying on the ERIs and their members.
The EOOS TSC will be the cornerstone in establishing and maintaining the EOOS, upon which European ocean observing can be strengthened in the coming decades. AMRIT will provide a catalyst for the development and consolidation of MRIs throughout Europe, providing a benchmark for operational coordination and collaboration. AMRIT will advance EOOS in line with its 2023-2027 Strategy and beyond, and the European Commission's ambitions for sharing responsibility in ocean observing across Europe.

Improve offshore infrastructure resilience against geohazards towards a changing climate

POSEIDON brings together an interdisciplinary and intersectoral team to deliver a professionally trained next-generation network of Doctoral Candidates to develop a step change in our capacity to identify, map, assess and predict offshore geohazards and in turn produce ground-breaking methods to prevent, mitigate and boost the resilience of current offshore infrastructure under a changing climate. The consortium is formed by experts across EU countries with universities, research institutions, industry partners and a government body to cover a full training programme on scientific and transferable skills. 

The programme will undertake critical research across scales (from micro to macro) for seeking the inner links and differences, with an eventual aim to ascertain the pathways and grow our capacity for the enhancement of the existing and the robust development of new offshore infrastructure in the frame of safety and resiliency. In addition to the informed design and implementation of the novel physical/numerical modelling and lab studies, our approach is unique in the solid integration and utilisation of state-of-the-art data science technologies (e.g., data mining, machine learning, etc.) to their full potential. Only through this systematic approach, we can achieve the objectives of understanding the impact of offshore geohazards on our offshore critical infrastructures (OCIs) and developing novel models, tools and designs for future OCIs, such as, wind turbines, pipelines and cables. 

The Doctoral Candidates will enjoy a highly integrated, interdisciplinary and intersector training environment, enriched through secondments with the network of non-academics. POSEIDON enables critical learning across all training aspects to ensure that comprehensive, robust and implementable solutions are obtained and validated to face the OCIs climate-resilient building.

POLARIN: POLAR RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK

The polar regions play a key role in the Earth’s system. They are essential for our climate and are sentinels of climate change, human expansion, and the hunt of new resources. The polar regions are losing ice, and their oceans and land are changing rapidly. The consequences of this polar transition extend to the whole planet and are affecting people in multiple ways. Evidence-based policy recommendations are needed, but the polar regions are difficult to reach, and research infrastructures able to operate in these regions are scarce. To understand and predict key processes in the polar regions and provide evidence-based information, the polar research community needs access to world-class research infrastructure operating in these regions.
POLARIN is an international network of polar research infrastructures and their services, aiming at addressing the scientific challenges of the polar regions. The network includes a wide array of complementary and interdisciplinary top level research infrastructures: Arctic and Antarctic research stations, research vessels and icebreakers operating at both poles, observatories, data infrastructures and ice and sediment core repositories. POLARIN will provide integrated, challenge-driven, and combined access to these infrastructures to facilitate interdisciplinary research on complex processes. 
POLARIN will:
1.	Provide challenge-driven transnational access to a large portfolio of research infrastructures. 
2.	Improve the access to data by improving data availability and interoperability between data infrastructures. 
3.	Provide virtual access to data and data services. 
4.	Provide data products for the scientific community and decision makers.
5.	Train the young generation of polar researchers in optimally exploiting the infrastructures for their research.
6.	Duly advertise the services offered by POLARIN and engage the infrastructure users to share their research outcomes with society.


Land-Sea interface: Let’s observe together!

LandSeaLot will link together in situ, model and earth observations (EO) and connect related communities, citizens and initiatives such as Copernicus, ESA, EEA, GEOSS, EMODnet and the European Digital Twin of the Ocean. These observations will be used in a gap analysis to co-design a common land-sea interface observation strategy and an implementation plan. LandSeaLot participants will simultaneously work on improving: in situ and EO capabilities, models to reduce the model/observations gap and the integration of model, in situ and satellite data. Observation capacity will be increased through tested, improved and guided use of low-cost technology by citizens, facilitated by the network of European marinas. The technologies selected will be piloted in Integration Labs (ILs) together with improved and integrated in situ and EO observation techniques and model outputs. LandSeaLot ILs will cover selected areas in the Black, Aegean, Mediterranean, Atlantic, North and Baltic Seas, with a range of catchment, tidal and meteorological regimes. Experts and citizen science leaders will work in the ILs together with JERICO-RI, DANUBIUS-RI and ICOS-ERIC, and with regional policy makers and managers to tailor integrated observations that will provide them with information to manage societal challenges. These will include assessment of the lateral carbon flux and stock, plastics transfer, nutrients impact on primary production and eutrophication, supporting biodiversity conservation, improving modeling capability and supporting climate change adaptation (storm surge, floods, heat waves, coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion). Data generated in the ILs will be made FAIR available via EMODnet and interoperability, and semantic solutions for existing, international data flows will be developed. Relevant communities will be engaged by workshops, conferences, training, a high-tech summit and by a communication strategy including videos and policy briefs to ensure LandSeaLot’s legacy.

Material Science Innovation for Accelerated, Sustainable and Safe Implementation of Carbon Capture and Storage

MISSION-CCS presents a timely and unique doctoral network designed to deliver the next generation of highly trained researchers and entrepreneurs in the field of material science, specifically focused towards accelerating implementation of carbon capture and storage CCS technologies worldwide and ensuring the sustainable and safe operation of existing and future CCS systems.

The training network combines unique experimental system design and modelling approaches, state-of-the-art analytical technologies and techno-economic analysis to deliver a new generation of researchers and entrepreneurs. The programme of research training centres of delivering Doctoral Candidate Researchers (DCRs) with world-leading technical expertise in material science and engineering relevant to the entire CCS process. MISSION-CCS ensures that the subject-specific technical knowledge of each DCRs is under-pinned by inter-sectorial knowledge whilst also promoting wider innovation skills and relevant training on the techno-economics of CCS, developing experts with breadth of knowledge.

A central aim of the network is to forge a strong cohort culture, by ensuring that peer-to-peer learning and mutual support become the norm, in order to enhance experience. Research-led training activities are strengthened through a dynamic and interactive education based programme delivered by an internationally renowned consortium of academics and industrialists with complementary skills. As part of the training programme, subsequent to an introduction to CCS systems and the specific material science challenges, DCRs will gain knowledge of system design and optimisation, state-of-the-art analytical methods, theoretical modelling, techno-economics, and understand the challenges of exploiting their research. They will also acquire proficiency in project management, communication, entrepreneurship, and innovation; all essential attributes for any modern technical professional.

Optimisation of digital catch monitoring and reporting in European Fisheries

 OptiFish will strive to provide technological solutions that will simultaneously improve the sustainability of fisher’s operations, enhance control processes and strengthen society’s trust in their products.
OptiFish will develop, test and recommend a set of innovative technologies and tools supported by artificial intelligence (AI) to provide the management, the fishing sector and the scientist with data on catch volumes, catch compositions and the fishing environment. 
The goal is to unlock the full potential of technologies such as electronic and genetic monitoring for automated species recognition based on AI and computer vision to reduce discards, unreported landings and unreported fishing activities, ultimately establishing  a fisheries control and enforcement system fit for the digital age. The technologies are not enough alone, it is also critical to consider the combination of technologies and the integration of computer vision models, the wide range of data sources and their subsequent formats, while also addressing stakeholders needs and acceptance. 
This goal cannot be achieved by a single project, which is why the aim of OptiFish is to lay a solid foundation for full technological development from which other projects and initiatives can be built. The project will place a strong focus on species recognition in different fisheries equipped with distinctly different catch handling facilities and in different European sea basins. 
To ensure that these innovations are relevant to fisheries management, OptiFish has participation from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, and has received written support from the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), the Basque, Danish and Belgian Fisheries authorities.



PRAI: Predicting Riser-response by Artificial Intelligence

Midlene fra PETROMAKS2-Stort program petroleum fordelt på år

Midlene fra PETROMAKS2-Stort program petroleum fordelt på fylker

Midlene fra PETROMAKS2-Stort program petroleum fordelt på fagområde

Senior Research Scientist

Stigrør på dypt vann utsettes for strømmer og turbulens. Det fører til såkalte virvel-induserte vibrasjoner (VIV) som gir akkumulering av utmattingsskader i materialet. Utmattingsskader representerer en sikkerhetsrisiko og utgjør dermed en stor post i utviklingskostnaden. På offshore boreplattformer samles det inn sensor data for tilstandskontroll, men vanlige stigrør har bare en eller få sensorer. Det fører til at state-of-the-art VIV-respons prediksjonsmodeller gir usikre estimater som gjør dem uegnet for tilstandskontroll i sanntid og som beslutningsstøtte. Konsekvensen er industripraksis med store og dyre sikkerhetsmarginer.
Formålet med PRAI er å utvikle et verktøy for å predikere VIV-respons kombinert av fysikk-baserte numeriske modeller og data-drevne maskinlæringsmetoder. Dette verktøyet vil kunne brukes i designfasen for stigerør på dypt vann og kunne integreres i fremtidige on-board management systemer. Bruk av slikt verktøy vil medføre reduserte utgifter og økt sikkerhet i både designfase og operasjon.
Det nyskapende aspektet i PRAI er kombinasjonen av en nylig utviklet tidsdomene-basert modell med konsepter fra maskinlæring. Tidsdomene modellen åpner opp muligheten for en intuitiv tolkning av de underliggende fysiske fenomener, mens maskinlæringen finner sammenhenger direkte i tilgjengelig sensor data. Resultatet blir en hybrid modell som løser de begrensende faktorer i den eksisterende modellen. Ambisjonen er økt presisjon i prediksjon av utmattingslevetid for stigerør og klargjøre for on-board tilstandsovervåking med et begrenset antall sensorer. Dette vil redusere antallet av unødvendige utskiftninger av stigrør og vil dermed bidra til mer ansvarsfull produksjon (FN bærekraftmål #12). Metodene i PRAI utvikles for stigrør, men kan direkte overføres til andre offshore strukturer slik som stigrør til undersjøisk minedrift, forankringsliner og strømkabler til flytende vindturbiner (#7) samt forankringsliner og fôringsrør til anlegg for fiskeoppdrett (#2).

I 2021 er hovedfokuset for arbeidet å utvikle adaptiv prediksjonsmetodikk basert på fullskala feltmålingsdata ved å kombinere un-supervised læringsmetoder og optimaliseringsalgoritmer. Dette består av flere forskningsaktiviteter: 1) utvikle en metodikk for å analysere feltmålingsdata basert på kombinert bruk av un-supervised læring og domenekunnskap. Dette er fruktbart for å få god innsikt i stigerørsresponsene under komplekse miljøforhold (eller parameterrom med høy dimensjon). Riser-responsene, som deler lignende egenskaper, ble gruppert. 2) Optimaliseringsalgoritme er utviklet for å oppnå optimale hydrodynamiske parametere i den fysikkbaserte numeriske modellen ved bruk av måledata. Dette vil bli brukt på de identifiserte responsgruppe fra (1) og forbedre den generelle prediksjonsnøyaktigheten med adaptive parametere. 3) Validiteten til fysikkbasert numerisk modell er videre evaluert basert på både modellskala og fullskalamålinger. Det er oppnådd forbedring i forhold til tradisjonell responspraksis.

Samarbeidet med MIT resulterte i utvikling av smart VIV-modelltestingsteknikk. Totalt antall tester kan effektivt reduseres ved å bruke aktiv læringsmetode i testen, som aktivt oppdaterte usikkerheten under testen og plasserer nye testpunkter på områder med høyest usikkerhet. Metodikk er testet i MIT for småskaladata. Nye testdata i større skala vil forbedre designgrunnlaget for industrien.

Deep-water risers are exposed to waves and currents which cause drag forces and accumulation of fatigue damage. While waves play an important role near the surface, deeper down currents and turbulence around the riser dominate the fatigue accumulation by causing Vortex-Induced-Vibrations (VIV). Consequently, VIV represent a safety risk and are a major design consideration adding notable costs during development and operation. 
VIV response prediction tools are traditionally based on semi-empirical methods. Despite huge efforts over the last two decades, the methods still contain significant inherent uncertainties and limitations. As a result, simplifying assumptions are made both during the engineering and operation stages, leading to the application of high safety factors in the VIV response calculation to compensate for the high uncertain in the prediction. This in turn adds costs in terms of VIV suppression devices and/or riser operation constraints. Thus, there is a clear need for developing methods that address the above limitations, providing more accurate response and fatigue predictions, which can be applied in the engineering phase and as a decision support tool for on-board riser management systems.
PRAI will combine a recently developed time domain (TD) prediction model with concepts from machine learning. TD modelling allows for intuitive interpretation of the underlying physical phenomena, while the machine learning infers connections directly from available data. The combination is referred to as 'hybrid analytics', where the existing physics-based response model is improved based on available sensor data, and consequently the final model is alleviated of some of the limitations from the simplifying assumptions. The ambition is to reduce the uncertainties in the riser response predictions and to pave the road for applying the model in an on-board software system with a limited number of sensors.

Atferdsmessig fleksibilitet, som er evnen til å justere sin adferd på riktig måte som svar på et miljø i endring, er forbundet med forbedret livskvalitet og høyere motstandskraft mot stressfaktorer. På motsatt side er atferdsmessig infleksibilitet knyttet til flere psykiatriske sykdommer, som for eksempel autisme. Til tross for at atferdsmessig fleksibilitet spiller en nøkkelrolle i helse og velvære, er dets nevrobiologiske grunnlag fortsatt ikke fullt forstått. Nye bevis tyder på at hormonet oksytocin spiller en kritisk rolle i atferdsmessig fleksibilitet. Dermed er hovedmålet med dette prosjektet å avdekke oksytocins rolle i atferdsmessig fleksibilitet ved å bruke en tilnærming som kombinerer resultater fra eksperimentelle, observasjons- og langsgående studier. Intranasalt administrert oksytocin kan øke oksytocinnivået i hjernen. Dermed vil det bli utført et eksperiment for å vurdere oksytocins effekt på atferdsmessig fleksibilitet som svar på skiftende sosial og ikke-sosial informasjon sammenlignet med en placebo intranasal spray. Rollen til oksytocinsignalgenvarianter for atferdsmessig fleksibilitet hos voksne vil bli utforsket ved bruk av store populasjonsbaserte datasett. I erkjennelse av at virkningen av oksytocin-genvarianter på atferdsmessig fleksibilitet sannsynligvis vil endre seg i løpet av levetiden, vil dette prosjektet også undersøke samspillet mellom oksytocingenvarianter og miljø i populasjonsbaserte langsgående datasett på tvers av ungdom og graviditet. Tilpasning til miljøer i rask endring er blant de mest verdifulle personlige egenskapene for individer som må navigere et komplekst dagligliv. Derfor representerer dette prosjektet en viktig innsats for å forstå oksytocins rolle i atferdsmessig fleksibilitet, noe som vil utvide vår forståelse av sinnet, psykiatriske tilstander forbundet med atferdsmessig infleksibilitet og intranasalt oksytocins potensial som terapeutisk behandling.

Behavioural flexibility, which is the ability to appropriately adjust one’s behaviour in response to a changing environment, is associated with improved quality of life and a higher resilience to stressors. Conversely, behavioural inflexibility is linked with several psychiatric illnesses, such as autism. Despite the key role for behavioural flexibility in health and wellbeing, its neurobiological basis remains elusive. Emerging experimental and evolutionary evidence from both the project team and other groups suggest that the neuropeptide oxytocin plays a critical role in behavioural flexibility. Thus, the primary objective of this project is to unravel oxytocin's role in behavioural flexibility by using a synergistic approach that combines outcomes from a series of experimental, observational, and longitudinal studies. A randomised, placebo-controlled, within-participant intervention trial will be performed to assess intranasal oxytocin's effect on cognitive and behavioural flexibility in response to shifting social and non-social cues in men and women using two different oxytocin dosages. The role of gene variants in the oxytocin signalling pathway on behavioural flexibility in adults will be explored using large population-based datasets. Recognising that the impact of oxytocin gene variants on behavioural flexibility is likely to change across the lifespan, this project will also investigate the interaction of oxytocin gene variants and environment in population-based longitudinal datasets across youth and the course of pregnancy. Adaption to fast-changing environments is among the most valuable personal attributes for individuals navigating the complexities of daily life. Hence, this project represents an ambitious effort to understand oxytocin’s role in behavioural flexibility, which will expand our understanding of the mind, psychiatric conditions associated with behavioural inflexibility, and intranasal oxytocin's potential as a therapeutic treatment.

Unravelling the role of oxytocin in behavioural flexibility

Hormonet oksytocin har vært assosiert med fødsel og amming i mer enn et århundre. Nyere forskning har imidlertid vist at oksytocin også påvirker tankene og følelsene våre, spesielt de som er relatert til sosial atferd. Oksytocinnivået i hjernen kan økes ved intranasal administrering av hormonet, og det har følgelig vært stor spenning knyttet til potensialet for å bruke oksytocin i behandling av psykiatriske sykdommer preget av sosial dysfunksjon, for eksempel schizofreni. Videre antyder forskning at oksytocinsystemet er involvert i appetittregulering og hvordan kroppen lagrer og bruker energi. Til tross for denne interessen, har forskere ennå ikke en detaljert forståelse av dette hormonsystemet og hvordan det påvirker vår fysiske og mentale helse.

For å håndtere dette kunnskapsgapet vil prosjektet bruke en "big data" -tilnærming der man kombinerer analyse av atferds-, helse- og genetiske data. Gjennom en serie analyser vil dette prosjektet avdekke hvordan oksytocinsystemets funksjon endres gjennom levetiden, hvordan variasjoner i oksytocins genetikk er assosiert med helseutfall, og hvordan det humane oksytocinsystemet utviklet seg i utgangspunktet. Til dags dato har dette prosjektet generert en forskningsartikkel publisert i journalen 'Nature Human Behavior'. Denne artikkelen beskriver den nyeste forskningen på oxytocin, samt forslag til forbedringer i fremtidige studier på dette feltet. Til sammen vil dette prosjektet gi en bredere forståelse av oksytocins rolle ved helse, noe som vil hjelpe forskere til å bedre forstå oksytocins terapeutiske potensiale.

Individuals with severe mental illness have significantly higher mortality rates than the general population, which is related to the increased risk of comorbid somatic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease. Growing evidence demonstrates the critical contribution of the neuropeptide oxytocin in the pathogenesis and maintenance of several psychiatric illnesses, due to its role in social behavior. Emerging data suggests that oxytocin signalling dysfunction may also contribute to this increased risk of somatic conditions. Harmonising the behavioural and physiological role of oxytocin signalling, Principal Investigator (PI) Quintana's recent work suggests that oxytocin signalling has a much broader role than supporting social behavior, with oxytocin signalling implicated in several other non-social cognitive states and metabolic regulation. While these findings are promising, a global understanding of oxytocin's role in health and wellbeing remains elusive, as research efforts tend to be siloed within subfields, and resource constraints limit sample sizes and multidisciplinary opportunities. Opportunely, the recent availability of datasets with unprecedented sample sizes and advances in methods provides an ideal juncture to more comprehensively understand oxytocin signalling. To address this critical knowledge gap and to exploit these recent advances, the OXYTOCINhealth project has the ambitious goal of generating models of the psychological and physiological relevance of the oxytocin signalling system. This will be achieved by adopting a novel big-data approach that will integrate mechanistic, developmental, phylogenetic, and evolutionary perspectives using behavioural, health, and multimodal genetic data. The unique interdisciplinary approach of OXYTOCINHealth, combined with PI Quintana's experience in oxytocin research and complementary expertise of the project team, yields an unprecedented opportunity to fully realise oxytocin's therapeutic potential.

0 projects

FRIPRO-Fri prosjektstøtte

Unravelling the role of oxytocin in behavioural flexibility

Awarded: NOK 12.0 mill.

Project Period: 2021-2027

Location: Oslo

FRIPRO-Fri prosjektstøtte

Deciphering the role of the oxytocin system in mental traits and physical health

Awarded: NOK 8.0 mill.

Project Period: 2020-2025

Location: Oslo