Complex behavioral disorders such as autism and schizophrenia derive from a combination of genetic and environmental factors that alter normal patterns of activity in brain circuits. But, progress in addressing these disorders is limited by our lack of understanding of how specific disease-related gene mutations impact neural circuits and how these alterations affect behavior.
Max Planck scientists are using the latest technologies to fill this gap in our knowledge, probing circuit structure and function at synaptic scale in mouse models that have genetic mutations associated with these disorders in humans. Mapping patterns of local and long-range synaptic connectivity in mouse models and relating these circuit changes to behavioral abnormalities and the neuronal activity patterns during behavior has the potential to unlock new possibilities for the treatment of these and other disorders.
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