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Role Of Dna Methylation In Sexual Differentiation Of Neurochemical Phenotype In The Brain, Laura R. Cortes
Role Of Dna Methylation In Sexual Differentiation Of Neurochemical Phenotype In The Brain, Laura R. Cortes
Neuroscience Institute Dissertations
Sex differences in the brain underlie sex-specific behaviors and physiological processes, and may help to explain male- or female-biased neuropsychiatric disorders. Some of the best-studied neural sex differences depend on differential cell death in males and females, but other sex differences persist even if cell death is prevented. These include sex differences in stable patterns of gene expression, or what we refer to as the differentiation of neurochemical phenotype. The mechanisms contributing to sex differences in neurochemical phenotype are unknown, but epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, control cell phenotype “decisions” throughout the body in developing animals. We recently discovered …
Factors Impacting Resiliency And Susceptibility To Social Stress, Anna M. Rosenhauer
Factors Impacting Resiliency And Susceptibility To Social Stress, Anna M. Rosenhauer
Neuroscience Institute Dissertations
Social stress is implicated in the etiology and persistence of neuropsychiatric disorders in humans and is investigated using social defeat models in animals. Multiple factors influence how social stress impacts the brain and behavior, either reducing or enhancing susceptibility to maladaptive responses. The overarching goal of this project was to identify factors that promote resiliency to social defeat stress throughout the lifespan. In Aim 1, we investigated the effects of social defeat during development and found that a brief, pubertal social defeat increases susceptibility to adult social stress. In Aim 2, we tested whether epigenetic changes, namely histone deacetylation (HDAC), …