Transcript Behavioral Neuroscience

The Sackler Institute
For
Developmental Psychobiology
Columbia University
NY State Psychiatric Institute
Established April, 2001
Sackler Institute at Columbia
DIVISIONS
Clinical
Behavioral Neuroscience
Basic Science
Research on Developmental Processes
Department of Psychiatry
School of Public Health
Pediatrics/Neonatology
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Biochemistry and
Molecular Biophysics
Psychoanalytic Center
Parent/Infant Program
Behavioral Medicine
Neurobiology and
Behavior
Sackler Institute at Columbia
DIVISIONS
Clinical
Myrna Weissman
Behavioral Neuroscience
Myron A Hofer, Director
Jennifer Knowles, Administrator
Basic Science
Thomas Jessell
William Fifer, Assistant Director
Michael Myers
Jonathan Polan
Jay Gingrich
Developmental Neuroimaging
Bradley Peterson
Sackler Award and NIMH Research Fellowships
Clinical Division
Myrna Weissman, PhD
Genetic Epidemiology
• What are the risk factors for mood and anxiety
disorders across generations?
• 3 Generations of Depression:
– Anxiety in childhood
– Depression in adolescence and adulthood
• Current study on serotonin transporter gene
– Genetic variants, EEG responses and MRI
Behavioral Neuroscience
Myron Hofer, MD, Director
Developmental Role of Parent/Infant Interactions
• Formation of attachment
• Mechanisms of separation effects
• Regulation of development
Early Development of Social
Cognition in Transgenic Models
of Autism
Behavioral Neuroscience
Michael Myers, PhD
Long-term Effects of Early Experience
• Infant feeding experiences: role in shaping
autonomic nervous system development
• Intrauterine and neonatal nutrition:
programming of metabolic and neurobehavioral
disorders
• Epigenetic mechanisms and underlying effects
Behavioral Neuroscience
Jonathan Polan, MD
Maternal-Infant Neurobiology
Transgenic model: Dopamine type 2 receptor gene
• Reversibly increased levels in striatum
– Limited to prenatal period
• Specific defect in working memory
• Models cognitive deficit in schizophrenia
Basic Science
Thomas Jessell, PhD
Developmental Neurobiology: Genes, Molecules and Cells
• How do neurons first establish their identity?
• What cues guide them to their targets?
• How do neuronal circuits forms and function?
Sackler Institute at Columbia
DIVISIONS
Clinical
Myrna Weissman
Behavioral Neuroscience
Myron A Hofer, Director
Jennifer Knowles, Administrator
Basic Science
Thomas Jessell
William Fifer, Assistant Director
Michael Myers
Jonathan Polan
Jay Gingrich
Developmental Neuroimaging
Bradley Peterson
Sackler Award and NIMH Research Fellowships
Behavioral Neuroscience
William Fifer, PhD, Assistant Director
Fetal/Infant Neurobehavioral Development
• Exposure to nicotine, alcohol and SSRI’s
– Link to SIDS
• Effects of Maternal Anxiety and Depression
on fetal behavior and autonomic system
Behavioral Neuroscience
Myron Hofer, MD, Director
Developmental Role of Parent/Infant Interactions
• Formation of attachment
• Mechanisms of separation effects
• Regulation of development
Early Development of Social
Cognition in Transgenic Models
of Autism
Behavioral Neuroscience
Myron Hofer, MD, Director
Developmental Role of Parent/Infant Interactions
• Formation of attachment
• Mechanisms of separation effects
• Regulation of development
The Evolution of Development
Developmental Neuroimaging
Bradley Peterson, MD
Long-term effects of premature birth
3 generations at risk for depression
• Virtual reality paradigms
• Diffusion tensor imaging
Behavioral Neuroscience
Jay Gingrich MD, PhD
Transgenic Models of Schizophrenia and Depression
• Neuroligin genes and cognitive deficits of
schizophrenia
• Serotonin 2A receptors necessary for responses
to hallucinogenic drugs
• Serotonin transporter gene knockout reveals
unique early developmental role for serotonin in
depression
Myrna Weissman
Bradley Peterson
3 generation study
– Genetic Varients
– EEG started
– MRI
William Fifer
Catherine Monk
Novel Role for Serotonin in
Early Development
• Transporter gene under-expression increases
vulnerability
– Clinical: short form of gene linked to adult depression
– Knockout mice show adult depressive phenotype
• SSRI: paradoxical effects
– Pregnant women: neonatal syndrome
– Children and Adolescents: ineffective and/or activating
– Pre-weaning mice show adult “depressive” phenotype