Project Summary

Bernardo L. Sabatini, M.D., Ph.D. (Independent Investigator 2007) of Harvard Medical School, will investigate how perturbations of NMDA receptor function alter the structure and function of synapses, the specialized contact points between brain cells at which information is exchanged. Preliminary findings suggest that NMDA receptors regulate the number of synapses and their stability through physical interactions with other proteins. In addition, electrical signaling through NMDA receptors regulates other properties of synapses. In the proposed study, the effects of pharmacological manipulations of NMDA receptors, as occurs in the treatment of schizophrenia, will be compared to the effects of structural alterations of the receptors (which may be involved in the causation of schizophrenia). The studies may shed light both on how NMDA receptor dysfunction contributes to schizophrenia and how targeting these receptors may function to lessen the symptoms of the disease.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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