Testing serotonin hypothesis of depression with optogenetics

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25713043
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Ohmura Yu 北海道大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (80597659)
• Research Collaborator: TANAKA KENJI 慶應義塾大学, 医学部, 准教授 (30329700) ; YAMANAKA AKIHIRO 名古屋大学, 環境医学研究所, 教授 (60323292)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: うつ病 / 光遺伝学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

“Serotonin hypothesis of depression” - decreased serotonin levels in the brain cause depression while increased serotonin levels in the brain attenuate depression - has been widely believed. However there is so far no direct evidence proving the relationships between serotonin and depression/depressive symptoms though the hypothesis was proposed in the 1950s. We addressed this issue by using recently-developed optogenetic tools. We used transgenic mice to manipulate serotonergic activity with light illumination. Our results demonstrated that optogenetic activation of serotonergic neurons decreased depressive-like behavior in mice while optogenetic suppression of serotonergic neurons did not affect it.

Free Research Field

精神薬理学