Principal Investigator: Kazu Nakazawa

Research Interests

The major thrust of our research is to understand the mechanisms underlying postnatal development of cortical circuitry and its abnormalities that lead to neuropsychiatric disorders. We are particularly interested in the differential roles of cortical and hippocampal GABAergic neurons and excitatory principal neurons in the refinement of cortical circuitry and function.  Our research strategy is to use cell-type specific genetic manipulations to probe the changes in synaptic and circuitry function that may contribute to the emergence of abnormal behaviors.  We use a variety of experimental approaches including mouse genetics, slice physiology, mouse behavioral testing and in vivo physiology in awake behaving mice. We are optimistic that the combination of these approaches will allow us to develop mouse models of psychiatric illnesses such as mood disorders, epilepsy and schizophrenia.  Our ultimate research goal is to understand the neural basis of ‘neuropsychiatric states’ during mouse behavior through in vivo behavioral and physiological monitoring.