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Garet P Lahvis Ph.D. University of Maryland Assistant Professor of Surgery Contact Information Waisman Center UW-Madison 1500 Highland Avenue Madison, WI 53705 263-9032 265-9695 lahvis@surgery.wisc.edu |
Last updated 9/1/2005 by rowley@waisman.wisc.edu
Some of the most enriching experiences of life happen with others; with the
ability to interact with others, to see the world from the perspective of
another, and to share enjoyment. Some people do not have the ability to relate
a normal interchange of emotions and perspectives. Some are diagnosed with
developmental disabilities, such as Autism, Fragile-X or William's syndrome, and
others become socially detached later in life, which can happen in
schizophrenia. These kinds of social deficits can be difficult to manage, and
the potential causes of these diseases, including many possible genetic
susceptibilities and environmental influences, remain unknown.
My laboratory investigates social deficits in laboratory mice. The laboratory
mouse has been invaluable for understanding the genetic mechanisms of
development and disease across many areas of research. Studies of mice allow us
to establish cause-effect relationships between genes and phenotype, which can
complement understanding gained by genetic linkage studies. To better utilize
mouse models to understand the genetics of social impairment, more focused
measures of mouse social functioning are necessary.
Adhering to the hypothesis that social reward is evolutionarily conserved across
animal species, my laboratory studies affiliative behaviors, which are those
behaviors in which an organism seeks the company of others. We are particularly
interested in the affiliative behaviors of juvenile and adolescent mice, since
these interactions are not less likely affected by genes that influence mating
and territorial defense. We explore the salience of social stimuli on
goal-directed action, reward and reinforcement, and learning and memory. We are
currently evaluating both inbred mouse strains and knockout mice with deficits
in social recognition (oxytocin), impairments in nurturing behavior (fosB
nulls), with agregarious sleeping patterns (NMDA receptor 1 nulls) or with
fragile-X mutations.
We also study the brain activities that are associated with these disabilities
in social behavior. Since the small size of the mouse brain precludes extensive
use of micro-PET, CT, and MR imaging for diagnosis, we use histology in
combination with computerized reconstruction approaches to integrate molecular
and cellular events with whole brain non-invasive images of brain activity and
morphology. From these complementary approaches, we can begin to understand how
specific genes interact with the ability of a mouse to respond to a social
stimulus. Our work is supported by funding from the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development.
Click to search National Library of Medicine and PubMed for other publications by Dr. Lahvis