Topic: 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Dopamine (DA) dysregulation has been linked to schizophrenia (SCZ) psychopathology for decades, but there is still an unmet need to identify underlying neural mechanisms. In particular, dopaminergic hyperactivity found in SCZ patients primarily in the associated/dorsomedial striatum (DMS), but not ventral striatum raises the necessity to address the role of the nigrostriatal pathways in SCZ. In order to study DA dysregulation relevant to human disease, we made use of the Df(16)A+/- mouse model of the 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, the most common chromosomal microdeletion and the highest genetic r