Dr. Gilberto Fisone

Biography

Dr. Gilberto Fisone The European Neuroscience Institute at Karolinska Institutet – The European Neuroscience Institute at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm

Research Interest

Our final goal is to identify molecular changes, which may represent novel targets for therapeutic interventions. Methodology is based on a combination of molecular biological, biochemical and behavioral techniques. Disease modelling coupled to cell-targeted expression of fluorescent proteins is used to investigate abnormal signaling and gene expression at the level of discrete groups of neurons. In parallel, specific signaling components are studied at the biochemical and behavioral level using pharma­cological tools, or by manipulating their expression both systemically and in a cell-specific manner. Using these strategies we have characterized key molecular events involved in the effects of various classes of psychoactive drugs. We have also identified abnormalities in signal transduction affecting distinct neuronal populations and underlying the severe motor complications, or dyskinesia, caused by prolonged administration of L-DOPA to parkinsonian patients. More recently, we have started to investigate the mechanisms at the basis of non-motor symptoms of PD, which include cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety.