Possible Therapeutic Target for Select Brain Disorders - including bipolar

Hello Everyone! I found another intersting article about new developments in the treatment of bipolar disorder. I found this information on the National Institute of Health's site. Apparently scientists have been studying different areas in the brain that have not received much attention in the past and finding links between deficiencies in the areas and schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

"Researchers have found in mice that a formerly obscure region of the hippocampus called CA2 is important for social memory, the ability of an animal to recognize another of the same species. Identifying the role of this region could be useful in understanding and treating disorders characterized by altered social behaviors such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism. Funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the study was published last month online in Nature."

Results of the Study
"Normally when a mouse encounters another mouse it does not know, it gives it a “sniff test” and is more interested in this new mouse versus a familiar acquaintance. The CA2-inactive mouse, however, shows no recognition of mice it has seen before and ends up sniffing indiscriminately familiar and novel mice. The mice showed no loss in the ability to discriminate social or non-social odors, such as food buried deeply in its litterbox. Although a pronounced loss of social memory is seen in the CA2-inactive mice, the mice did not experience changes in other hippocampal-specific behaviors such as spatial and contextual memory, and could still distinguish between novel and familiar inanimate objects."

Significance
“Because several neuropsychiatric disorders are associated with altered social behaviors, our findings raise the possibility that CA2 dysfunction may contribute to these behavioral changes,” said Siegelbaum.

"Individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have lowered numbers of CA2 inhibitory neurons. Similarly, individuals with autism have altered signaling of vasopressin, a social behavior hormone that interacts with a specific class of receptors found predominantly in this region. However, the CA2-inactive mice did not display classic symptoms of autism as they had normal levels of sociability, providing evidence that sociability and social memory involve different brain functions. Techniques such as the one detailed here are examples of research tools that the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN ) Initiative hopes to build upon to further our understanding of the human brain."

What’s Next
"Siegelbaum’s group hopes to use the same genetic technology to examine whether there are changes in CA2 function in mouse models of psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. If so, they plan to screen for drugs that restore normal CA2 function and ask whether this drug treatment helps reverse any behavioral changes seen in the mice. Such research offers the possibility of finding new drug targets and approaches for treating the behavioral changes associated with these disorders."

Reference
Hitti FL, Siegelbaum SA. The Hippocampal CA2 Region is Essential for Social Memory. Nature , published online February 23, 2014.
Grant 5F30MH098633-02

Link to Source page


I hope you found this informative. Sooner or later researchers should be able to find something to truly help us with our mental illnesses. This study makes me hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. Have a great Thursday!