Molecular Changes in a Model for Spontaneous Fluctuations of Manic-and Depressive-Like Behavior

The molecular mechanism underlying mood instability, uncorrelated
to apparent external events, is poorly understood. Fluctuations
in manic and depressive behaviors, often independent of
obvious exogenous triggers; play a critical role in bipolar disorder.
A major obstacle preventing progress in our understanding
of this phenomenon has been the lack of appropriate animal
models. Previously, we demonstrated that the transcription factor
Otx2, also suggested as a susceptibility gene for bipolar disorder;
orchestrates the development of monoaminergic neurons.