Hen Group

Project Summary

Depression is a very heterogenous disorder, which may explain the rather low success rate of current medications. For this reason we have decided to focus on a specific feature or endophenotype, which is often found in depression and in some anxiety disorders: overgeneralization. Overgeneralization refers to the lack of specificity of memory for places and events particularly if they have an emotional component. We will use in concert with the other DTF members a combination of genetic, optogenetic, and pharmacological approaches to study the brain circuits underlying memory generalization as well as strategies aimed at decreasing overgeneralization.