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About:
Dr. Dulawa received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University
of California at San Diego, and her postdoctoral training at Columbia
University in New York, NY.
"The goal of my lab is to understand how mood is regulated.
Specifically, we aim to identify the molecular mechanisms and neural
circuits that modulate anxiety and depression using mouse models. We
are pursuing this goal by studying the neurobiological mechanisms
underlying the antidepressant response. Although antidepressant
treatment increases synaptic monoamines within minutes to hours, the
therapeutic effects of antidepressants require chronic administration
(weeks) to emerge. This long-term adaptive changes to chronic
antidepressant treatment mediate the therapeutic response, although the
mechanisms underlying this effect have not been determined. One
substantial barrier to elucidating the mechanisms underlying the
antidepressant response has been a lack of animal models that are
sensitive to the chronic effects of antidepressants. Our lab has
developed novel animal models in which mice exhibit behavioral
responses that emerge during chronic, but not short-term,
antidepressant treatment. To dissect the mechanisms underlying the
behavioral responses to chronic antidepressant treatment, we use a
combination of molecular, genetic engineering (including tTA/tetO
inducible gene expression systems), and pharmacological techniques. We
are currently using these techniques to study the role of a number of
molecules, including elements of the serotonin system, as well as
neurotrophic factors (BDNF). We are also exploring early environmental
factors that regulate anxiety and depression, and the response to
antidepressants."
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Selected Publications:
- SC Dulawa, R Hen, K Scearce-Levie,
MA Geyer. Serotonin1B receptor modulation of startle reactivity,
habituation, and prepulse inhibition in wild type and serotonin1B
knockout mice. Psychopharmacology 132:125-134; 1997.
- R Grailhe, C Waeber, SC Dulawa, JP Hornung, X Zhuang, D
Brunner, MA Geyer, R Hen. Increased exploratory activity in mice
lacking the 5-HT5A receptor. Neuron 22:581-91; 1999.
- SC Dulawa, DK Grandy, MJ Low, MP
Paulus, MA Geyer. Dopamine D4 receptor-knockout mice exhibit reduced
exploration of novel stimuli. Journal of Neuroscience 19:9550-9556;
1999.
- SC Dulawa, C Gross, K Stark, R Hen,
MA Geyer. Knockout mice reveal opposite roles for 5-HT1A and 1B
receptors in prepulse inhibition. Neuropsychopharmacology 22:650-659;
2000.
- SC Dulawa, K Scearce-Levie, R Hen,
MA Geyer. Serotonin releasers increase prepulse inhibition in serotonin
1B knockout mice. Psychopharmacology 149:306-312; 2000.
- SC Dulawa, MA Geyer. Phenotypic
differences and the effects of serotonergic agents on prepulse
inhibition and habituation in three mouse strains. Neuropharmacology
39:2170-2179; 2000.
- SA Henry, SC Dulawa, MA Geyer, F Conquet.
Assessment of a prepulse inhibition deficit in a mutant mouse lacking
Mglu5 receptors. Molecular Psychiatry 9:35-41; 2004.
- SC Dulawa, KA Holick, B Gundersen, R
Hen. Effects of chronic fluoxetine in animal models of anxiety and
depression. Neuropsychopharmacology 29:1321-30; 2004.
- MT Englander, SC Dulawa, P Bhansali, C Schmauss.
How stress and fluoxetine modulate serotonin 2C receptor pre-mRNA
editing. Journal of Neuroscience 25(3):648-51, 2005.
- SC Dulawa, R Hen. Recent
developments in animal models of the antidepressant response: the
novelty-Induced hypophagia test. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 29(4-5):771-783,
2005.
Last updated 8/8/06
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