Gene-environment interactions in the etiology of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders

Abstract

Huntington's disease and Rett syndrome may be good candidates since patients often show psychiatric symptoms and both have a known, causative single-gene alteration that make it possible to study gene-environment interactions on psychiatric endophenotypes using rodent models of these diseases. This chapter discusses environmental manipulations associated with rodent studies. Environmental enrichment is made up of social and nonsocial components that both have a significant impact on mice. The chapter focuses on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glucocorticoids in the context of environmental modulation and affective disorders. It describes Rett syndrome and work done in mouse mode..