Maria Bonn

Full member: February 2008 - January 2011

Speaker of the members: 2009-2010

Disseration Title: Light and electron microscopic investigations on the morphology and monoaminergic innervation of identified neurons in the amygdala of wildtype rodents and of rodent models for differential emotionality.
Abstract: Intrinsic peptide systems appear to be of crucial importance for processing of emotional, especially fear- or anxiety-related, stimuli in the amygdaloid complex. In the lateral (La) and basolateral nucleus (BL) of the amygdala, neuropeptide Y (NPY) presumably subserves anxiolytic functions. Pharmacobehavioural investigations in rodents suggested interactions between monoaminergic afferents and peptidergic systems in modulating the amygdaloid fear-circuitry. 
Objectives of this PhD project are:
1. To analyse in detail the morphology of interrelations between dopaminergic and serotonergic amygdala afferents and peptide-producing target neurons in the La and BL of adult rats
2. To determine monoamine receptor expression in target neurons, and thus to assess functional parameters of the dopaminergic/serotonergic innervation in the La and BL of adult rats
3. To study if social defeat stress and/or serotonin transporter knock out impact the neuronal morphology in the La and BL of male adult mice.

Principal investigator:

Prof. Dr. Esther Asan

Publications:

Talks:
Insulin receptor cascade in Alzheimer´s disease. (Riederer, P. et al. (2008). CINP Pacific Asia Regional Meeting, 419)
Maintainance of emotional balance. (Summer School WS 2008/09)
NPY neurons in the rat amygdala show differential expression of serotonin receptors (Summer School 2010)

Poster:

Monoaminergic innervation of NPY-immunoreactive neurons in the rat amygdala: a neuroanatomical study. (Bonn, M. and Asan, E (2009). 8th Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society, T23-12B)

Monoaminergic innervation and serotonin receptor expression of neuropeptide y-producing interneurons in the rat laterobasal amygdala. (Bonn, M. et al. (2009). DOI 10.3337/anatges.2010.0012, Poster 30)

Genotype-dependent and stress-related morphological changes of neurons in the brain of wildtype and serotonin transporter knockout mice. (Bonn, M. et al. (2009). Pharmacopsychiatry, 5 (42), A12)

Genotype-dependent and stress-related morphological changes of neurons in the brain of wildtype and serotonin transporter knockout mice. (Nietzer, S. et al., (2009). Genotype-dependent and stress-related morphological changes of neurons in the brain of wildtype and serotonin transporter knockout mice. EMBL conference on translating behaviour, Heidelberg)

Double in situ hybridization reveals differential expression of serotonin receptor subtypes in peptidergic neurons of the rat amygdala. (Bonn, M. et al. (2010) FENS Abstr., vol.5, 077.2, 2010)

Increased dendritic spine density and reduced stress-related neuroplasticity of laterobasal amygdaloid pyramidal neurons in serotonin transporter deficient mice. (Bonn, M. et al. (2010). DOI 10.3337/anatges.2010.0013, ID:4c3c6313455a5)

Paper:

Serotonin transporter knockout and repeated social defeat stress: impact on neuronal morphology and plasticity in limbic brain areas (submitted to Behavioural Brain Research)

Current position:

Department of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine,
Röntgenring 11, 97070 Würzburg