How Brain Cells Communicate in Psychiatric Disease

Schizophrenia is among the most burdensome of all health problems, with enormous impacts on individual health and quality of life, as well as on communities, society, and public health. Many individuals with schizophrenia are untreated and of those that receive treatment, many experience side-effects and up to 30% have treatment-resistant disease. In the Gerber lab, we use cellular and animal models to investigate functional consequences of genetic variants associated with schizophrenia and other serious psychiatric disorders to better understand these conditions and improve treatment. A major focus of our lab is how brain cells communicate and how this changes in psychiatric disease. We study a process called synaptic plasticity, which goes awry in psychiatric conditions including depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Synaptic plasticity is believed to be how neurons, the major cells of the brain, learn and encode memories.

There are about 86 billion neurons in the human brain. This blue-stained neuron has branches with tiny projections where it forms connections with other neurons called synapses. Neurons communicate with one another at these connections. These connections can be strengthened or weakened -- this is the process known as synaptic plasticity. Through synaptic plasticity, neurons can modify their connections based on experience. These modifications are believed to be how neurons learn and how memories are formed. By adjusting synaptic strengths, the nervous system can remodel itself, giving rise to durable memories that are the basis for mental function. Synaptic plasticity changes as we age and goes through defined stages across a lifespan. By studying this process in disease models, the Gerber labs aims to expand our understanding of psychiatric disorders and improve treatment.