Effects of Reducing Synaptic Plasticity on Resilience to Depression and Anxiety in ASCL1 Mouse Model

Major depression is correlated with neuroplasticity, including synaptic plasticity. This research aims to determine the impacts of altering synaptic plasticity in adult-born hippocampal neurons on ASCL1 mices resilience to depression and anxiety and hypothesizes that reducing synaptic plasticity decreases resilience to major depressive disorder. For this purpose, this ASCL1 mouse model is used to edit genes controlling the formation of long-term potentiation (LTP) by N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor (NMDAR). Relative studies are discussed and analyzed, giving deeper insights into understanding molecular neural circuits and mechanisms of depression and providing support for novel ideas of depression treatment.