CARIPLO PASSAFARO - Integrins and protocadherins in glutamatergic circuits: identification of common signaling pathways and molecular targets in anxiety and major depressive disorders (DSB.AD004.311)

Thematic area

Biomedical sciences

Project area

Structure responsible for the research project

Institute of neuroscience (IN)

Project manager

MARIA PASSAFARO
Phone number: 0250316973
Email: maria.passafaro@in.cnr.it

Abstract

Anxiety and depression are the most prevalent mental health conditions with sizeable psychological, social, and economic costs. These multifaceted psychiatric conditions are often comorbid at the syndromal level, showing significant overlap at the level of symptom dimensions and they can emerge in the same patient over lifetime. For example, during an initial evaluation, the original diagnosis could be panic disorder, and after a few years it presents with symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or depression, or vice versa. Numerous data indicated that common genetic factors and environmental experiences contribute to both anxiety disorders and depression, leading to a variety of neuroendocrine, neurotransmitter, and neuroanatomical disruptions in interconnected brain regions with the key disruptions within the cortico-limbic circuitry. This suggests that both syndromes may arise from perturbations in the functional and structural organization of common large-scale brain networks.. Here we propose an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to clarify the role of adhesion molecules in anxiety and depression, to define strategy to revert the 'anxio-depressive disorders'.

Start date of activity

01/10/2020

Keywords

protocaderine, ansia, depressione

Last update: 22/05/2025