Understanding animal testing

The topic of animal experiments is often discussed very emotionally.

Therefore we want to summarize data and facts about animal experiments and make backgrounds transparent. We support the initiative "Tierversuche verstehen" (Understanding animal experiments), which provides comprehensive and fact-based information on animal experiments at publicly funded research institutions.

With the help of animal experiments, we at the LIN investigate fundamental learning and memory processes: How does learning by reward work? What role does dopamine play there? How does our brain process acoustic signals? Where are memories stored in the hippocampus? How can they be retrieved? What happens in the brain during memory disorders? How can they be treated? How do synapses change during learning processes? Which signalling pathways are important for memory? What happens during an epileptic seizure in the brain?

We compare complex schemas such as working memory within rodents, long-tailed macaques, and humans.

What are the alternative methods to animal testing?