Project Summary

Peter Penzes, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2007) of Northwestern University, is studying synaptic structural plasticity, a process by which excitatory synapses undergo structural modifications important for synapse development and function, and that contribute to learning, memory and cognition. Defective synaptic connections between neurons in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus are thought to contribute to schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and mental retardation. Under the hypothesis that kalirin regulates dendritic spine plasticity, Dr. Penzes will use mice in which the gene encoding kalirin has been deactivated, in order to perform in vivo analysis of the role of synapse structural plasticity in brain wiring, cognition, and in the control of behavioral phenotypes relevant to psychiatric disorders. This work has the potential to help identify more specific drug targets for neuropsychiatric conditions in which defective synaptic development is implicated.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS

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