PD Dr. Christopher Pryce

 

Main Goals, Keywords

Depression is a debilitating disorder of the brain/mind. Definitive understanding of aetiopathophysiology-pathology is lacking and, accordingly, current therapies are of limited efficacy. Our main goals are to conduct research with mouse models that: (1) increases understanding of the aetiopathophysiology-pathology underlying critical emotional-cognitive dysfunctions in depression, and (2) contributes to the discovery and development of novel, effective anti-depressant treatments.

Keywords: Depression, stress vulnerability-resistance, emotional-cognitive function, stress neuropeptides, neuroimmunology, glia-neuron network, serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, GABA, anti-depressant

Group Members

1 senior scientist, 1 technician, 3 PhD students, 1 MD-PhD student, 2 Resident psychiatrists, 1 Master student

Previous and Current Research

Previous research in monkeys and rats investigated the effects of environmental stressors (e.g. prenatal glucocorticoid exposure, postnatal social stress) on depression-relevant behaviour, physiology, neuroanatomy.

Current research in mice is establishing models, in terms of aetiology and readouts, of key emotional-cognitive-homeostatic processes in depression (e.g. learned helplessness, negative feedback sensitivity, fatigue, disrupted circadian rhythm) and investigating the circuitry and cellular processes underlying these. The physiological, molecular and behavioural changes induced by experience of uncontrollable stressors - of direct relevance to depression aetiology and maintenance - constitute a central theme.

Future Projects

We aim to increase understanding of the aetiopathophysiology-pathology underlying depression-relevant emotional-cognitive-homeostatic states using valid mouse models. This knowledge will be applied to identification and pre-clinical validation of novel targets and mechanisms of antidepressant therapy.

Techniques and Equipment

Genetically-modified mice, environment-gene interaction, viral vectors, stereotactic surgery, neuropharmacology, automated equipment for emotional-cognitive testing, in vivo microdialysis, enzyme immunoassay

Selected Publications

• Pryce CR, Klaus F. Translating the evidence for gene association with depression into mouse models of depression-relevant behaviour: Current limitations and future potential. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013 May 13. doi:pii: S0149-7634(13)00117-6. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.05.003.
• Ineichen C, Sigrist H, Spinelli S, Lesch KP, Sautter E, Seifritz E, Pryce CR. Establishing a probabilistic reversal learning test in mice: evidence for the processes mediating reward-stay and punishment-shift behaviour and for their modulation by serotonin. Neuropharmacology. 2012 Nov;63(6):1012-21. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2012.07.025. Epub 2012 Jul 21.
• Pryce CR, Azzinnari D, Sigrist H, Gschwind T, Lesch K-P, Seifritz E. Establishing a learned-helplessness effect paradigm in C57BL/6 mice: behavioural evidence for emotional, motivational and cognitive effects of aversive uncontrollability per se. Neuropharmacology. 2012 Jan;62(1):358-72. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2011.08.012. Epub 2011 Aug 16.
• Pryce CR, Azzinnari D, Spinelli, S., Seifritz E, Tegethoff M, Meinlschmidt G. Helplessness: a systematic translational review of theory and evidence for its relevance to understanding and treating depression. Pharmacol Ther. 2011 Dec;132(3):242-67. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2011.06.006. Epub 2011 Jul 28. Review.

Selected Lectures, Seminars or Colloquia

376-1428-00 Comparative Behavioural Neuroscience
BIO328 Practical Course in Neurobiology
Introductory Course in Neuroscience (ZNZ PhD program)

Funding

Swiss National Science Foundation

NCCR Neural Plasticity and Repair

Pharmaceutical industry

URL

www.dcp.uzh.ch/index.html