Tohoku university school of medicine

The Department of Biological Psychiatry started as a new laboratory in April, 2002. Our laboratory is very unique among Japanese domestic universities, conducting basic research into the causes of mental disorders. Our research themes are the molecular neurobiology of mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, mood disorder, drug abuse and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). Transgenic mice provide an important means for understanding gene function, as well as for developing therapies for mental disorders. We have been studying several strains of transgenic mice as animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders. The many advances in the field of human genetics that have enabled researchers to bring for genome analysis of mental disorders. The human genome analysis of genes which are relevant to mental disorders have been conducted. We recently started the research of pluripotent stem cells which may provide useful tools for patient-specific pathophysiology of mental disorders.

1)Genome-wide association for methamphetamine dependence: convergent results from two samples. Arch Gen Psychiatry .65(3):345-355 2008

2)Methamphetamine-induced hyperthermia and lethal toxicity: role of the dopamine and serotonin transporters. Eur J Pharmacol. 572: 120-128 2007

3)Methamphetamine-induced locomotor activity and sensitization in dopamine transporter and vesicular monoamine transporter 2 double mutant mice. Psychopharmacology. 193(1):55-62 2007

4)Norepinephrine Transporter Blockade Can Normalize the Prepulse Inhibition Deficits Found in Dopamine Transporter Knockout Mice. Neuropsychopharmacology. 31(10):2132-2139 2006

5)How individual sensitivity to opiates can be predicted by gene analyses. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 26(6): 311-317 2005

Schizophrenia, Mood disorder, Drug abuse, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Monoamine, Opioid, Mood stabilizer, Transgenic mouse, Functional genome, Analgesia