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Genetic factors contribute to behavioral responses in both humans and rodents.
However, the genes that are responsible for variations in normal behavior, as well as those for abnormal behavior, including learning disability, are largely unknown. Research in my laboratory has focused on the identification of genes that are particularly important to memory formation in mice. Genetic manipulations, including targeted gene deletions and mutations, allow us to investigate whether a genetic element is important and how it controls learning and memory in mice and its implication in human cognition. Selective abolition of the NMDA component of long-term potentiation in mice lacking mGluR5. Use-dependent AMPA receptor block in mice lacking GluR2 suggests postsynaptic site for LTP expression.