, 2011; Kachroo et al., 2005). Deficits in spatial learning as well as acquisition and retrieval of stimulus-outcome memories in a fear conditioning paradigm have also been reported ( Jia et al., 2001; Xu et al., 2009). Electrophysiological studies in Grm5 knockout mice revealed sensorimotor gating deficits suggesting a key role for this gene in the modulation of hippocampal NMDA receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity ( Jia et al., 1998). Dissection and characterization of the molecular components of these transsynaptic signaling interfaces

and their involvement in the modulatory action of 5-HT on synaptic plasticity is likely to give better insight into the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders and to provide novel targets for translation into interventional strategies. Our understanding of how 5-HT-dependent modulation Selisistat of circuit configuration influences social cognition and emotional learning has been enhanced by recent insight into the molecular machinery that connects pre- and postsynaptic Ivacaftor price neurons and the cellular mechanisms of synapse formation and plasticity. However, we have made only

the first few steps on the long and winding road toward an understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying cognition-emotion continuum as the fundamental basis of effective social functioning (Pessoa, 2008), and the contribution of 5-HT signaling to these mechanisms. Yet, the potential impact of 5-HT-modulated synaptic plasticity on social cognition and emotionality is currently transcending the boundaries of behavioral genetics, molecular neurobiology and cognitive neuroscience

to embrace biosocial tuclazepam science, thus creating the framework for a “biosocial brain” (Lesch, 2007). Detailed analyses of human genomes, together with a wide range of other species, has revealed an unexpected magnitude of variation in individuals, reflecting remarkable “genomic plasticity” (Gerstein et al., 2012; Keinan and Clark, 2012; Wolf and Linden, 2012). These genetic analyses are contributing fundamentally to the knowledge of how humans have evolved, how we (mal)function, and why we suffer from or resist to disease. Genetic approaches have matured to explore the underestimated wealth of genetic variation among humans and its influence on interindividual differences and the relative impact of neural and environmental determinants on cognition, emotionality, and behavior. The science of the biosocial brain increasingly uses neuroimaging to study the neural basis of complex behavior, examining such phenomena as social conformity, empathy, trust and altruism (Carr et al., 2003) as well as evolutionary (epi)genetics of prehistoric population expansion and migration, agricultural revolution, industrialization, and urbanization of life styles (Lupski et al.