Abstract 2169 Examination of the critical period for the homocysteic acid animal model for bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a neuropsychological disorder featuring cyclical periods of depressive and manic behaviors. The Chase lab aims to develop a reliable animal model for BD in order to better understand its etiology. We have previously shown that daily injection of Sprague Dawley rat pups from postnatal day 3 through 19 (P3-P19) with homocysteic acid (HCA) produces a mixed manic and depressive state after puberty. These behaviors are reversed by lithium treatment and involve changes in gene expression in the prefrontal cortex that are also improperly regulated in BD.