Dopamine has long been considered central to understanding anhedonia – the loss of pleasure, interest and motivation that is a common feature of depression and other mental health conditions. However, a new international expert reportpublished in BMJ Mental Health suggests that dopamine alone cannot explain the condition and that future research must look beyond a single biological pathway.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) was long regarded primarily as a disease of an increasingly fatty and inflamed liver, associated with an elevated risk of liver cancer. Today, research paints a far more complex picture: metabolism, the immune system, adipose tissue, the gut and the microbiome all interact in the development and progression of MASH – and the disease can, in turn, influence other conditions throughout the body. Two new reviews in Nature, led by researchers from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tübingen, bring together the current state of knowledge on disease mechanisms and therapies and show how these insights could pave the way for more personalised treatment.

Seven early-career researchers have each secured a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for their projects at LMU.