A.J. Robison on the Neural Basis of Sex Differences in Depression – #37

Corey and Steve talk with MSU Neuroscientist A.J. Robison about why females may be more likely to suffer from depression than males. A.J. reviews past findings that low testosterone and having a smaller hippocampus may predict depression risk. He explains how a serendipitous observation opened up his current line of research and describes tools he uses to study neural circuits. Steve asks about the politics of studying sex differences and tells of a start up using CRISPR to attack heart disease. The three end with a discussion of the psychological effects of ketamine, testosterone and deep brain stimulation.

Topics

• 01:18 – Link between antidepressants, neurogenesis and reducing risk of depression
• 13:54 – Nature of Mouse models
• 23:19 – How you tell whether a mouse exhibits depressive symptoms
• 32:36 – Liz Williams’ serendipitous finding and the issue of biological sex
• 45:47 – A.J.’s research plans for circuit specific gene editing in the mouse brain and a start up’s plan to use it to tackle human cardiovascular disease
• 59:07 – Psychological and Neurological Effects of Ketamine. Testosterone and Deep Brain Stimulation

Resources

• Transcript
• Robison Lab at MSU
• @RobisonLabMSU

Papers

• Androgen-dependent excitability of mouse ventral hippocampal afferents to nucleus accumbens underlies sex-specific susceptibility to stress.
• Neurogenesis and The Effect of Antidepressants
• Integrating Interleukin-6 into depression diagnosis and treatment
• Sub-chronic variable stress induces sex-specific effects on glutamatergic synapses in the nucleus accumbens.
• Prefrontal cortical circuit for depression- and anxiety-related behaviors mediated by cholecystokinin: role of ΔFosB.
• Emerging role of viral vectors for circuit-specific gene interrogation and manipulation in rodent brain.