Thursday, May 9, 2013

From Stanford: Optogenetics in psychiatric diseases

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23642859

 2013 May 1. pii: S0959-4388(13)00084-6. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2013.03.007. [Epub ahead of print]

Optogenetics in psychiatric diseases.

Source

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, United States.

Abstract

Optogenetic tools have revolutionized the field of neuroscience, and brought the study of neural circuits to a higher level. Optogenetics has significantly improved our understanding not only of the neuronal connections and function of the healthy brain, but also of the neuronal changes that lead to psychiatric disorders. In this review, we summarize recent optogenetic studies that explored different brain circuits involved in natural behaviors, such as sleep and arousal, reward, fear, and social and aggressive behavior. In addition, we describe how alterations in these circuits may lead to psychiatric disorders such as addiction, anxiety, depression, or schizophrenia.

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