Unit of Behavioral Genetics studies molecular mechanisms that regulate mood and cognition by using genetically modified mice. By using region-specific gene expression and knockout we are testing how selected molecules contribute to the functions of defined neuronal circuits.

    We assume that synaptic plasticity underlies the regulation of cognition and mood, and choose molecules known to be involved in neuronal plasticity. By interfering with their functions within restricted regions of the brain, and investigate how mood and cognition are controlled.

    Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is required for neuronal plasticity. It is also implicated in the regulation of memory and mood. We found that mice lacking BDNF develop high levels of aggression and fear. In order to determine, if BDNF knockout mice can serve as an animal model of mood disorder, we are characterizing behavior of these animals following administration of the mood-stabilizing drugs. It is not clear, in which neuronal circuits BDNF is affecting mood. By rescuing behavioral abnormalities using viral vectors expressing BDNF we are trying to define those circuits.

    Among various downstream targets of BDNF signaling are MAP kinases Erk1 and Erk2, which are required for neuronal plasticity, and which show altered activity in the brain affected by mood disorders. We have generated mice with the conditional deletion of these kinases and are trying to determine what role these kinases are playing in specific circuits and whether the lack of Erks can indeed contribute to the behavioral abnormalities resembling a psychiatric illness.

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