Gene and neuronal networks implicated in behavioral and cognitive deficits associated with neuropsychiatric disorders

Tuesday, October 09, 2012 — Concurrent Symposia Session I
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.	Balcony B

Co-chairs

• Andres Buonanno, NICHD
• Zheng Li, NIMH

Program

Cognitive dysfunction and altered behavioral traits are common features of numerous neuropsychiatric disorders and Williams Syndrome; however, little is known about how the development and function of the underlying neuronal networks affected. The purpose of this symposium is to emphasize how the convergence of basic, translational and clinical research, encompassing studies from rodents to humans, has begun to identify how the genetic underpinnings manifest as an early developmental profile of transcriptomes in schizophrenia, how genes identified as risk factors for neuropsychiatric disorders can regulate the development and function of neuronal networks and behaviors associated with these illnesses, and how functional MRI and PET are beginning to uncover the association of genes with cognition. The potential identification of critical gene nodes (comprised of numerous psychiatric "at risk" genes) that converge to influence the activity and interconnectivity of neuronal circuits may uncover novel circuit-based targets for treatment of psychiatric illness.

Human brain development and risk for schizophrenia
Joel Kleinman, NIMH

Whole exome sequencing in the first degree cousin pairs with early age-at-onset bipolar disorder FARE Award Winner
David Chen, NIMH

A new look at dopamine D2 receptors in schizophrenia
Zheng Li, NIMH

Neuregulin regulates neuronal network activity and behaviors associated with psychiatric disorders
Andres Buonanno, NICHD

Mechanisms of experience-dependent regulation of prefrotnal circuitry
Kuan Hong Wang, NIMH

Neurogenetic mechanisms in Williams syndrome: from genes to neural circuits to behavior and back again
Karen Berman, NIMH

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