| |
| |
| Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Investigator |
 |
Dr. Meyer-Lindenberg studied medicine at Bonn (Germany) and Cornell University and did residencies in psychiatry and psychotherapy in Giessen (Germany) and in neurology in Bonn. He received his M.D. in 1991 and his Ph.D. (Habilitation) in 1999. He is board certified in psychiatry, psychotherapy and neurology. He also holds a Master's degree in pure and applied mathematics from the University of Hagen (Germany). Dr. Meyer-Lindenberg came to NIMH in 1997 to work first as a Visiting Associate, then as a Staff Clinician in the Section on Integrative Neuroimaging, and has been the co-director of the GCAP Neuroimaging Core Facility since 2004 and chief of the Unit for Systems Neuroscience in Psychiatry since 2005. His research interests are focused on using multimodal neuroimaging approaches to characterize functional brain circuits underlying genetic risk for psychiatric disorders and cognitive dysfunction.
http://snp.nimh.nih.gov
|
|
Research Interests:
The arrival of the human genome sequence continues to revolutionize medicine. The potential benefits of applying this information to psychiatry are enormous, since the genetic contribution to many psychiatric disorders is considerable and our understanding of the biology of these disorders still limited. However, even if a candidate gene is identified, it is a daunting task to understand how variation in a gene influences the complex mental and social phenomena that occur in mental illness. We use neuroimaging methods to characterize the impact of genetic variation on functional brain circuits important for functions such as working memory, episodic memory, regulation of emotion and social cognition to understand the mechanisms translating genetic effects into risk for mental illness.
Small deletion syndromes are caused by the loss of a stretch of genes from one of the two chromosomes they are located on during germ cell development. They offer a unique opportunity to study how relatively pronounced changes in the effects of relatively few genes lead to disturbances in brain function. We study, Velocardiofacial syndrome, also known as 22q11.2 syndrome or DiGeorge syndrome, to understand how the genes missing are related to the increased occurrence of psychiatric problems, such as psychosis. Together with the Section on Integrative Neuroimaging, we continue to work on Williams Syndrome, a small deletion of of approximately 21 genes on chromosome 7q11.23. In a series of studies, we have found brain mechanisms contributing to the visuoconstructive problem, alterations in memory, and to the emotional/social aspects in this disorder.
Schizophrenia affects around 1% of the world's population and is one of the most devastating of psychiatric diseases with an enormous impact on public health and the lives of afflicted persons and their families. We are involved in a series of studies examining differences between patients with schizophrenia, their relatives, and controls, on a number of indices of brain function and structure. We use these results to then study the effects of variation in risk genes for schizophrenia such as Catecholamin-0-methyltransferase (COMT).
|
Selected Recent Publications:
Meyer-Lindenberg A, Buckholtz J, Kolachana BS, Pezawas L, Blasi G, Wabnitz A, Honea R, Hariri AR, Verchinski B, Callicott J, Egan MF, Mattay VS, Weinberger DR (2006) Neural mechanisms of genetic risk for impulsivity and violence in humans, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103(16): 6269-74.
Full Text/Abstract
Meyer-Lindenberg A, Nichols T, Callicott J, Ding J, Kolachana BS, Buckholtz J, Mattay VS, Egan MF, Weinberger DR (2006) Impact of complex genetic variation in COMT on human brain function, Mol Psychiatry 11(9), 867-877.
Full Text/Abstract
Meyer-Lindenberg A, Mervis CB, Berman KF (2006) Neural mechanisms in Williams syndrome: a unique window to genetic influences on cognition and behavior, Nature Reviews Neuroscience. accepted for publication 7, 380-393.
Full Text/Abstract
Meyer-Lindenberg A, Weinberger DR (2006) Intermediate phenotypes and genetic mechanisms of psychiatric disorders, Nature Reviews Neuroscience. accepted for publication.
Meyer-Lindenberg A, Kohn PD, Kolachana B, Kippenhan S, Mcinery-Leo A, Nussbaum RL, Weinberger DR, Berman KF (2005) Midbrain dopamine and prefrontal function in humans: interaction and modulation by COMT genotype, Nature Neuroscience 8(5), 594-596.
Full Text/Abstract
Kirsch P, Esslinger C, Chen Q, Mier D, Lis S, Siddhanti S, Gruppe H, Mattay VS, Gallhofer B, Meyer-Lindenberg A (2005) Oxytocin modulates neural circuitry for social cognition and fear in humans, J Neurosci 25:, 11489-11493.
Full Text/Abstract
Pezawas L*, Meyer-Lindenberg A*, Drabant EM, Verchinski B, Mattay VS, Hariri AR, Kolachana B, Egan MF, Weinberger DR: 5-HTTLPR (2005) Polymorphism impacts human cingulate-amygdala interactions: a genetic susceptibility mechanism for depression, Nature Neuroscience 8(6), 828-34.
Full Text/Abstract
All Selected Publications
Contact Information:
Dr. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
Unit for Systems Neuroscience in Psychiatry
Clinical Brain Dissorders Branch, NIMH
Bldg. 10 Room 4C101
10 Center Drive, MSC 1365
Bethesda, MD 20892-1365
Telephone: (301) 496-9671 (office),
(301) 496-7437 (fax)
Email: andreasm@mail.nih.gov
|
|
