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Lahvis, Garet P
 Garet P. Lahvis, PhD
Assistant Professor
Research Area: Mouse Social Behavior. Genetic Susceptibility. Autism. Fragile-X. Developmental deficits in mouse social behavior.
Home Dept: Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, School of Medicine and Public Health
Affiliated Depts: Molecular and Environmental Toxicology
Address
Room 229
2115 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI
Phone: 608/263-9032 - Email
Research
The motivation to interact with friends, relatives, teachers or adversaries is a common experience for individuals encountering other individuals or larger social groups. Adhering to the hypothesis that motivations for social interaction are evolutionarily conserved across animal species, my laboratory studies affiliative behaviors, which are those behaviors in which an organism seeks the company of others. We study mice, rather than other rodents, because they provide an ideal model for establishing cause-effect relationships between genes and phenotype. We are particularly interested in the affiliative behaviors of early adolescent mice, since these interactions are less likely affected by genes that influence mating and territorial defense. Our focus has clinical relevance, as studies show that drugs of abuse, particularly opiates, may co-opt social reward networks within the adolescent brain. By studying juvenile mice, we can also explore genetic susceptibilities to disorders that impair social functioning, such as autism.
With a panel of novel behavioral tests, we find that social reward among juvenile mice can be sufficient to ascribe valuation to an otherwise neutral environment. We also find evidence that early adolescent social tendencies may be influenced by genetic factors that are distinct from those that govern adult social motivations. To elucidate the interplay between genes and behavior, we take advantage of a variety of imaging approaches, including in situ hybridization, vascular patterning immunohistochemistry, and receptor occupancy, to identify areas that support social reward in juvenile mice and the underlying gene expression patterns that support these activities. We suspect that these regions share commonalities and that they also contrast with other reward systems that respond to food or the kinds of social encounters experienced by adults.
Publications- Panksepp, J.B. and Lahvis, G.P. Expression of social reward among juvenile mice. Genes, Brain and Behavior. ePub 2006 and in Press
- Panksepp J.B., Jochman, K., Kim, J.U., Koy, J.J. Wilson, E.D., Chen, Q., Wilson C.R and Lahvis, G.P. Affiliative behavior, ultrasonic communication and social reward are influenced by genetic variation in adolescent mice: PLoS ONE. 2(4): e351. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000351
- Lahvis GP, Pyzalski RW, Glover E, Pitot HC, McElwee MK, Bradfield CA. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor is required for developmental closure of the ductus venosus in the neonatal mouse. Mol Pharmacol. 2005 Mar;67(3):714-20. Epub 2004 Dec 8.
- Bunger MK, Moran SM, Glover E, Thomae TL, Lahvis GP, Lin BC, Bradfield CA. Resistance to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin toxicity and abnormal liver development in mice carrying a mutation in the nuclear localization sequence of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.J Biol Chem. 2003 May 16;278(20):17767-74. Epub 2003 Mar 5.
Check PubMed for other publications by Garet P. Lahvis
Photo Credit: Chris Frazee, Media Solutions
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