Early-Life Blockade of the 5-HT Transporter Alters Emotional Behavior in Adult Mice
Abstract
Reduced serotonin transporter (5-HTT) expression is associated with abnormal affective and anxiety-like symptoms in humans and rodents, but the mechanism of this effect is unknown. Transient inhibition of 5-HTT during early development with fluoxetine, a commonly used serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor, produced abnormal emotional behaviors in adult mice. This effect mimicked the behavioral phenotype of mice genetically deficient in 5-HTT expression. These findings indicate a critical role of serotonin in the maturation of brain systems that modulate emotional function in the adult and suggest a developmental mechanism to explain how low-expressing 5-HTT promoter alleles increase vulnerability to psychiatric disorders.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- October 2004
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1101678
- Bibcode:
- 2004Sci...306..879A
- Keywords:
-
- NEUROSCIENCE