Project Summary

Jamie M. Zeitzer, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of Stanford University , will study what role hypocretin 1, a brain-derived protein involved in the sleep-wake cycle, may play in depression. Sleep seems to play a role in depression because the condition can be relieved by sleep deprivation. But depression resumes after a night of sleep, making it an ineffective treatment. Dr. Zeitzer has found that hypocretin-1 has a flattened daily rhythm in depressed individuals. In squirrel monkey studies, he found that hypocretin robustly responds to sleep deprivation and that hypocretin neurons may, in part, be responsible for the antidepressant activity of sleep deprivation. To understand why hypocretin amplitude declines during depression, and how possibly to reverse this effect, Dr. Zeitzer aims in this project to further study the normal physiology of this molecule. The studies may lead to new approaches for depression treatment.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Unipolar

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