Your brain consists of tissue and fluid, but did you know that around half of the tissue is made up of fat? These fats serve not only as an energy reserve and for building membranes, but also attach themselves to proteins — a process that is crucial for optimal brain function. It is precisely this attachment that goes wrong in various neurological disorders, such as MS. Studying the exact cause and impact of this is difficult because these fat molecules dissolve poorly in water and are therefore hard to detect using traditional methods. This is why my research focuses on developing new methods to measure these fat molecules directly on proteins using mass spectrometry. This enables us to observe the fats in their exact location and at the precise moment they have an impact. By mapping precisely where the attachment of fats to proteins in the brain goes wrong, we can lay the foundation for the development of therapies that correct this process. So remember: to repair the brain, we must first understand exactly how proteins are decorated with fat molecules.