The ultimate aim of this laboratory is to understand how abnormal forms of emotional behavior develop. The stress response in general, and glucocorticoids in particular are well known for their role in the transition from normal to abnormal behavior. However, the information available on the role of glucocorticoids concerns mainly the long term effects of chronic overproduction. The acute effects of glucocorticoids (including the recently demonstrated non-genomic effects) are considerably less well known and studied. Even less is known about the behavioral effects of glucocorticoid deficiency, which appears to be closely related to aggressiveness shown in personality disordered people. Although glucocorticoid overproduction may trigger aggressive behavior via increasing irritability, the impulsivity-driven, "cold-blooded" violence (which constitutes a large criminal problem) appears to be specifically related to glucocorticoid deficiency. The interaction between stress exposure and mood disorders is widely studied, and relatively well known. Less information is available on the pharmacological consequences of stress exposure, despite the fact that stress is well known for its important effects on brain function in general and receptor expression in particular. These considerations prompted us to study four main topics over the past four years: (i) the mechanisms of the stress response; (ii) the non-genomic effects of glucocorticoids on behavior; (iii) the behavioral effects of glucocorticoid deficiency, and (iv) the consequences of stress exposure, with special reference to pharmacological responsiveness. Efforts were made to understand basic mechanisms, for which a wide array of different techniques was adopted. We plan to maintain, moreover, to broaden our approach over the coming years.
Work division. G.B. Makara, D. Zelena, and Zs. Mergl (assistant: N. Beko): classical stress studies; J. Haller, É. Mikics, B. Varga, K. Soproni and J. Baranyi (assitant: B. Barsvari): behavioral studies; J. Halász and I. Barna (assistants A.Arszovszki): immunocytochemical an in situ hybridization techniques; J Halász, and É. Mikics: telemetric recordings. Besides the main focus, group members are trained in at least one technique outside their main expertise.
International cooperation was based on the mobility of I. Barna, J. Halász, É. Mikics, and D. Zelena; short (mainly cooperation building) travels were made by J. Haller and G.B. Makara as well. The main cooperating parties were MR Kruk from the University of Leiden (The Netherlands), and RJ Rodgers (University of Leeds, UK).
Cooperation within the institute. The group is devoted to cooperation within the institute either via mutual technology transfer (share of expertise) or joint research. Such cooperation was built up with the groups lead by T.F. Freund, K. Kovács, Zs. Liposits, E. Madarász, and G. Szabó (in alphabetical order)
