William Carlezon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
McLean Hospital
Behavioral Genetics Lab, Mrc 217
115 Mill St
Belmont, MA 02478
Telephone: 617-855-2021
Fax: 617- 855-2023
Email: bcarlezon@mclean.harvard.edu
Lab website: The Carlezon Lab
The Behavioral Genetics Laboratory (BGL) is a multidisciplinary, preclinical research program that explores in animals how genes affect complex motivated behaviors. We are particularly interested in how experiences such as exposure to psychotropic drugs (including illicit substances and clinically-prescribed treatments such as methylphenidate or antidepressants) or stress affect gene expression within the mesolimbic system (ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens) and related structures (frontal cortex, amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis). We study how these molecular adaptations lead to alterations in motivated (reward- or aversion-driven) behaviors.
We can mimic the effects of drug exposure or stress on gene expression through the use of engineered viral vectors, which allow us to transfer genes directly into select brain areas. We can also manipulate gene expression using genetically engineered mice. We use a variety of behavioral assays in rodents (place conditioning, rewarding brain stimulation, fear-potentiated startle, prepulse inhibition, forced swimming, 5-choice serial reaction time task), each of which models key aspects of addiction or neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression, mania, schizophrenia, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Researchers in the BGL use a wide range of methodologies, including behavioral analyses (in rats and mice), stereotaxic surgery, histology, neuroanatomy, gene microarrays, and medicinal chemistry. We collaborate extensively with other institutions: for example, we are part of an NIMH Conte Neuroscience Center with researchers at UT-SWMC and Yale. Another unique aspect of this program is our participation in translational research with clinical programs at McLean Hospital. Treatments that we have discovered or evaluated in the lab, including drugs and a novel form of transcranial magnetic stimulation, are currently being tested in humans with depressive disorders. Thus we offer a broad perspective on neuroscience within the context of the study and treatment of psychiatric illness.
For a complete listing of Bill Carlezon's publications on PubMed, click here.
Neuroscience webpage updated 12/02/2009