Project Summary

Kerry J. Ressler, M.D., Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2005) of Emory University, proposes using a unique transgenic animal that allows a gene to be expressed in only certain regions of the brain to study brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in affective disorders. BDNF has been repeatedly implicated to play a critical role within the hippocampus in the resistance to and recovery from depressive symptoms in animal models of depression. But recently Dr. Ressler has found that BDNF within the amygdala is required for the acquisition of conditioned fear. Dr. Ressler proposes to directly examine the different functions of hippocampal and amygdala BDNF. The proposal aims to examine the effects of adult BDNF deletions in dorsal hippocampus vs. amygdala on a set of behavioral measures of emotion, including tests that have been proposed to model anxiety, depression, conditioned fear, sensorimotor gating and non-emotional hippocampal function. These experiments will help to determine the role of the BDNF gene expressed within specific brain circuits on measures of stress, fear, and depression symptoms.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS

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