Anne Albrecht

Junior PI at the Department of Genetics & Molecular Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

Stress comes in many flavors and usually individuals are well set to successfully cope with aversive events. In fact, forming memories for aversive events is a key element for a successful behavioral adaptation to threatening environments. However, under conditions of intensive, traumatic stress exposure coping mechanisms can fail and neuropsychiatric disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop.

In previous studies, we could demonstrate that juvenile stress as a model for childhood adversity increases the risk for developing PTSD later in life. The exposure to juvenile stress thereby induces lasting alterations in the GABAergic system of brain regions responsible for anxiety and emotional memory formation.

In our current projects we investigate how stress experiences throughout the lifetime influence emotional and cognitive information processing and memory formation. Behavioral profiling approaches thereby allow for identifying resilient vs. lastingly stress-affected animals, based on their individual response in different behavioral assays. Relating to our previous findings, we focus on GABAergic interneuron functions in order to dissect circuits of stress resilience and vulnerability in brain areas relevant for emotional information processing such as amygdala and hippocampus. To this end, we combine high-resolution gene expression analysis via laser-assisted microdissection and quantitative PCR, immunhistochemistry and electrophysiological read-outs with state-of-the-art in vivo interventional approaches such as pharmacogenetics, local application of pharmacological compounds and viral vectors in different transgenic mouse models.

Keywords: stress – GABAergic interneurons – memory consolidation – pharmacogenetics – autophagy

Location: OVGU (FNW)

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