Wim Crusio facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Wim E. Crusio
|
|
|---|---|
| Wilhelmus Elisabeth Crusio | |
Wim Crusio, August 2006
|
|
| Born | 20 December 1954 |
| Citizenship | Dutch |
| Alma mater | Radboud University Nijmegen |
| Known for | Behavioral neurogenetics of the hippocampus, mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders |
| Awards | IBANGS Distinguished Service Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | behavioral and neural genetics, behavioral neuroscience |
| Institutions | Radboud University Nijmegen, University of Heidelberg, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS; Paris, Orleans, and Talence (Bordeaux)), University of Massachusetts Medical School |
| Thesis | Olfaction and behavioral responses to novelty in mice: a quantitative-genetic analysis (1984) |
| Doctoral advisor | Hans van Abeelen |
| Other academic advisors | Bram van Overbeeke, Hendrik de Wit, Victor Westhoff |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Crusio |
Wim E. Crusio (born Wilhelmus Elisabeth Crusio on 20 December 1954) is a Dutch scientist. He studies how genes affect the brain and behavior. This field is called behavioral neurogenetics. He works as a research director for the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Talence, France.
Contents
Education and Career
Wim Crusio started his studies at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He earned his first degree in biology in 1975. Later, he completed his master's degree in 1979 and his PhD (a high-level research degree) in 1984. For his PhD, he researched how genes influence how mice explore new places. He also looked at how a changed sense of smell affected their behavior.
After his PhD, Crusio worked as a postdoc (a researcher who has finished their PhD) at the University of Heidelberg in Germany from 1984 to 1987. He then spent a year in Paris, France, for more research. He returned to Heidelberg before joining the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research). He worked in Paris and then in Orléans.
In 2000, he became a full professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the United States. He returned to the CNRS in France in 2005. There, he became a group leader at the Centre de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cognitives in Talence. He is currently an adjunct director at the Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine.
Key Research Areas
Wim Crusio's research focuses on understanding how genes affect brain function and behavior. He often uses mousees as models to study complex human conditions.
Brain Structure and Learning
Crusio and his team have studied the hippocampus in the mouse brain. The hippocampus is a part of the brain important for learning and memory. They found that small differences in a part of the hippocampus, called mossy fibers, were linked to how well mice learned. Mice with larger mossy fibers often performed better in spatial learning tasks, like finding their way through a maze. Scientists believe this connection might be a cause-and-effect relationship.
Mouse Models for Mental Health
Crusio also researches how genes influence mental health conditions. He uses mice to study conditions like depression and autism.
Studying Depression in Mice
Scientists can make mice show symptoms similar to human major depressive disorder by exposing them to long-term, unpredictable stress. Crusio and his team studied these mice. They looked at changes in behavior, like aggression, anxiety, and learning problems. They also checked for changes in neurogenesis, which is the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus.
Their research showed that stress caused big changes in behavior and a drop in new brain cell growth. However, the results varied depending on the type of mouse and whether it was male or female. This means that while new brain cell growth might be involved in depression, it's not the only factor.
Studying Autism in Mice
More recently, Crusio has explored using mice as a model for autism. This idea comes from people with Fragile X syndrome, who often have autistic symptoms. Fragile X syndrome is caused by a problem with the FMR1 gene.
Scientists have created mice where the Fmr1 gene (the mouse version of the human gene) is not working. Crusio's review of studies on these mice showed that they do display behaviors similar to autism. These include changes in social behavior, which is a key symptom of autism.
Editorial Work
Wim Crusio has played a big role in scientific publishing. He was the first editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Genes, Brain and Behavior from 2001 to 2011. He helped set standards for how studies on genetically modified mice should be published. These standards are now widely accepted in the field.
Since 2017, he has been the editor-in-chief of Behavioral and Brain Functions. He also co-edits Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology since 2019. He has served on the editorial boards of many other important journals in his field. He has also edited special issues for several journals and co-edited a handbook on genetic techniques for studying behavior. Currently, he is editing a series of handbooks called Cambridge Handbooks in Behavioral Genetics.
Community Involvement
In 1996, Wim Crusio helped start the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society. He served in various leadership roles for this society, including president from 1998 to 2001. In 2011, he received the "Distinguished Service Award" from this society. This award honors people who have made outstanding contributions to the field of behavioral neurogenetics.
He has also been involved in other scientific groups, like the European Brain and Behaviour Society. He has helped organize many scientific meetings and conferences.
Images for kids
-
Wim Crusio, August 2006
See also
In Spanish: Wim Crusio para niños
