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.