His "membrane hypothesis" provided the first biophysical explanation of how nerve cells transmit and process information via electrical currents.
Using a BMBF initial financing, 22 new professorships in the area of Computational Neuroscience were established at German universities within the framework of the Bernstein Network, which were cnsoblidated by the federal states.
They also worked (and still do) on new diagnostic methods, therapeutic approaches, or tools for neurological or psychiatric disorders in collaboration with clinical researchers (e.g. epilepsy, tinnitus, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, stroke, depression, schizophrenia).
[4] As additional local structural elements, five Bernstein groups have been established (in Bochum, Bremen, Heidelberg, Jena, and Magdeburg).
[6] Since 2006, the BMBF has annually allocated the Bernstein Award to an outstanding young scientist in the research field of Computational Neuroscience.
[10][11] In a cooperation between the BMBF, German Research Foundation (DFG), and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), German-Japan Collaboration projects have been launched in 2012.