Gene X stress Interaction: Epigenetic Mechanisms

January 19, 2026

Mapping the stress response: A high-resolution single-cell atlas of the hippocampus.

Our latest publication in Molecular Psychiatry provides the most comprehensive characterization to date of the adult male hippocampus under stress, identifying cell-type specific molecular signatures.

De Donno C, Lopez JP, D. Luecken M, Kos A, Brivio E, Bordes J, Yang H, M. Deussing J, V. Schmidt M, J. Theis F, Chen A.
Single-cell characterization of the adult male hippocampus suggests a prominent, and cell-type specific, role for Nrgn and Sgk1 in response to a social stressor. Mol Psychiatry. doi: 10.1038/s41380-025-03417-y.

Shoshani-Haye K, Friedlander G, Golani O, Almeida-Correa S, Shemesh Y, Chen A.
Prenatal stress induces transient developmental alterations in distinct GABAergic populations and leads to long-lasting behavioral abnormalities. Neurobiology of Stress. doi: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2025.100749.

April 28, 2024

Group social dynamics in a semi-natural setup reveal an adaptive value for aggression in male mice.

Environmental enrichment and oxytocin knockout show opposite effect on aggression and hierarchy structure in male mice.

May 8, 2024

Semi-natural setups can contribute to a more complete understanding of dominance and aggression in mice.

Checkout our latest review in Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

Shemesh Y, Benjamin A, Shoshani-Haye K, Yizhar O, Chen A.
Studying dominance and aggression requires ethologically relevant paradigms. Current opinion in neurobiology. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2024.102879.

Lopez JP, Chen A.
Neuropsychiatric research in 2023: mechanisms of stress and therapies. The Lancet Neurology. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(23)00469-6.

December 3, 2023

Hebrew

דיוקנה של הטראומה במוח צעיר: המנגנון העצבי שמשתבש כתוצאה מחשיפה לאירוע קשה בגיל רך

מדעני מכון ויצמן למדע חושפים בפירוט חסר תקדים כיצד טראומה בעכברים בני יומם מעצבת את מוחם ופוגעת בתפקודים החברתיים שלהם בבגרות – ומדגישים את חשיבות ההתערבות המוקדמת ליכולת ה

Kos A, Lopez JP, Bordes J, de Donno C, Dine J, Brivio E, Karamihalev S, Luecken MD, Almeida-Correa S, Gasperoni S, Dick A, Miranda L, Büttner M, Stoffel R, Flachskamm C, Theis FJ, Schmidt MV, Chen A.
Early life adversity shapes social subordination and cell type–specific transcriptomic patterning in the ventral hippocampus. Science Advances. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adj3793.

Lebow M, Kuperman Y, Chen A. Chapter 19 - Prenatal-induced psychopathologies: All roads lead to microglia. Stress: immunology and inflammation. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-817558-3.00016-0.