Vidita Vaidya
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
India
Biography
Dr. Vidita Vaidya is a Professor of Neurobiology at the Department of Biological Sciences. Life experiences have a profound impact on the brain. Her lab is interested in (1) understanding the neurocircuitry of emotion, (2) its modulation by experience and (3) the alterations in emotional neurocircuitry that underlie complex psychiatric disorders like depression. Using animal models of depression, some of which are based on perturbations of early life experience, we study the molecular, epigenetic and cellular changes that contribute to persistent alterations in behavior. We also study the molecular and cellular adaptations that arise from sustained antidepressant treatment. One such adaptation is the regulation of adult neural stem cells and we are interested in the pathways that regulate adult neurogenesis and their contribution to depression-related behavior. Our lab uses pharmacological and genetic approaches, and tools such as microarrays, in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry and behavioral tests to understand the neurocircuitry of emotion.
Research Interest
Neurobiology of stress and depression.
Publications
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Benekareddy M, Vadodaria KV, Nair AR, Vaidya VA (2011) Postnatal 5-HT2 receptor blockade prevents the emergence of anxiety behavior, dysregulated stress-induced immediate early gene responses and specific transcriptional changes that arise following early life stress. Biological Psychiatry 70: 1024.
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Suri D, Veenit V, Sarkar A, Thiagarajan D, Kumar A, Nestler EJ, Galande S, Vaidya VA (2013) Early stress evokes age-dependent biphasic changes in hippocampal neurogenesis, Bdnf expression and cognition. Biological Psychiatry 73: 658.
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Sarkar A, Chachra P, Kennedy P, Pena CJ, Desouza LA, Nestler EJ, Vaidya VA (2014) Hippocampal HDAC4 Contributes to Postnatal Fluoxetine-Evoked Depression-Like Behavior. Neuropsychopharmacology.
