Project Summary

Lise Rioux, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of Drexel University College of Medicine, will investigate what might be causing problems of the olfactory system seen in patients with schizophrenia. Recently, abnormalities in olfaction, olfactory bulb (OB) morphology, and olfactory-evoked response potentials have been found in people with schizophrenia and in milder degrees in their first-degree relatives. Dr. Rioux hypothesizes that the synaptic connection between the olfactory epithelium and the OB is dysfunctional in schizophrenia and is associated with changes in the expression of the neureglin 1 gene (NRG1) and its receptors. To study this hypothesis, Dr. Rioux plans to: (1) characterize the patterns of distribution of NGR1 and its receptors, erbB2-4, in post-mortem human olfactory bulbs (OB) and (2) compare the level of expression of NRG1 and the erbBs in OB from normal controls and individuals with schizophrenia.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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