Genes, Brains, and Emotions: Interdisciplinary and Translational Perspectives

Andrei C. Miu is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Behavioral Genetics at the Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, and the Founding Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, one of the leading research groups in the field of cognitive and affective science in Romania. His research investigates the psychological and biological mechanisms of emotion and emotion regulation, with the aim of uncovering individual differences thatcontribute to risk for psychopathology.Dr. Judith Homberg obtained her PhD in 2004 at the Free University Medical Center in Amsterdam on preclinical research aiming to understand individual differences in vulnerability to drug addiction. Then she pursued a postdoc position at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht and generated and characterized knockout rats. One of the knockout rats involved the serotonin transporter knockout rat, which displays heightened emotional behaviour. After obtaining a personal subsidy from the Dutchgovernment she started her own research group at the Donders Institute in Nijmegen in 2008. From this position she further built up her current research group focussing on the individual differences in behaviour and risk for stress-related disorders, with serotonin as main modulator.Dr. Lesch has undergone training in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. His work has been focussing on the interdependent relationship between molecular, cellular and systems neurobiology and mechanisms of pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatments related to neurodevelopmental and life-spanning psychiatric disorders using interdisciplinary and translational research strategies. In its scope, the Lesch lab's work is regarded as an interface with contributions to bridging the sizeable gap betweenbasic molecular, neurobiologic and clinically applicable research. The work uncompromisingly integrates pertinent research strategies to elucidate mechanisms of pathologically altered synaptic plasticity (synaptopathy), intraneuronal signaling (neuronal dysregulation) and interneuronal communication(system dysfunction) as well as their impact on the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disease.