Wim Crusio

Wim E. Crusio

Wim Crusio, August 2006
Born 20 December 1954 (1954-12-20) (age 57)
Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands
Residence Pessac, France
Citizenship Dutch
Fields behavioral and neural genetics, behavioral neuroscience
Institutions Radboud University Nijmegen, University of Heidelberg, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS; Paris, Orleans, and Talence (Bordeaux)), University of Massachusetts Medical School
Alma mater Radboud University Nijmegen
Doctoral advisor Hans van Abeelen
Other academic advisors Bram van Overbeeke, Hendrik de Wit, Victor Westhoff
Doctoral students Laure Jamot, Abdelkader Lagmouch, Yann Mineur, Maude Bernardet
Other notable students Frans Sluyter
Known for Behavioral neurogenetics of the hippocampus, mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders
Notable awards IBANGS Distinguished Service Award
Author abbreviation (botany) Crusio

Wim E. Crusio is a Dutch behavioral neurogeneticist and a directeur de recherche (research director) with the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Talence, France.

Contents

Education and career

Crusio obtained a master's degree and then a Ph.D. from the Radboud University Nijmegen in 1979 and 1984, respectively. For his master's degree, he performed research in behavior genetics,[1] plant taxonomy,[2] and vegetation science.[3] His Anubias revision continues to generate interest.[4][5][6] His work in plant taxonomy continued for several more years, with publications on the genus Samolus[7][8] and the description of a new species of the Aroid genus Lagenandra, L.dewitii; in 1986.[9] For his PhD thesis, Crusio studied the inheritance of the effects of anosmia on exploratory behavior of mice, and more in general the genetic architecture of exploratory behavior, using quantitative-genetic methods such as the diallel cross.[10] From 1984 to 1987, Crusio worked as a postdoc at the University of Heidelberg, supported by a NATO Science Fellowship[11] and an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship.[12] During 1988, Crusio spent a year in Paris, France, supported by a fellowship from the Fyssen Foundation.[13] He then returned to Heidelberg as a senior research scientist before being recruited as chargé de recherche by the CNRS, initially working in an institute of the Université René Descartes (Paris V) and later moving to the CNRS campus in Orléans, having been promoted to directeur de recherche.[11] In 2000 he became full professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts, returning to the CNRS in 2005 as a group leader in the Centre de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cognitives in Talence, a suburb of Bordeaux.[11][14][15]

Research

Exploratory behavior

When confronted with a novel environment, animals from non-sessile non-predatory animal species will often engage in exploratory behavior. Together with his mentor Hans van Abeelen, Crusio hypothesized that, on the one hand, this would be advantageous (as it would enable animals to find resources, such as water, food, etc.), but on the other hand disadvantageous (because moving around in unfamiliar territory will render an animal vulnerable to predation).[16] Such stabilizing selection would be expected to lead to a genetic architecture characterized by ambidirectional dominance.[17] This was indeed found both for mice[16][18][19] and for Paradise fish.[20]

Hippocampal mossy fibers

During his postdoc, Crusio became interested in the inheritance of neuroanatomical variations in the mouse hippocampus, showing that about 50% of the variation found between different inbred mouse strains in the sizes of their intra- and infrapyramidal mossy fiber (IIPMF) projections could be attributed to heredity. It had previous been shown by Herbert Schwegler and Hans-Peter Lipp that these variations are correlated with the capacity of mice to master a two-way active avoidance task, animals with smaller projections learning much faster than animals with larger IIPMF.[21][22] Together with Schwegler and Lipp, Crusio showed that an inverse correlation, that is, animals with larger IIPMF learning better, could be found for spatial learning in a radial arm maze task.[23][24] This correlation was amenable to experimental manipulation by inducing early postnatal hyperthyroidy by injecting pups with thyroxine, which results in an enlargement of the IIPMF projection.[25] As expected, when mice from a strain with scant IIPMF projections were rendered hyperthyroid, they showed enlarged IIPMF and improved learning ability on the radial maze.[26][27] Taken together, Crusio and collaborators think that it is highly likely that this correlation is causal,[28] although this is not universally accepted.[29]

Mouse model of depression

When mice are exposed to unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS), they start exhibiting symptoms reminiscent of major depressive disorder in humans.[30] As it had been suggested that deficits in hippocampal neurogenesis might underlie depression,[31] Crusio and collaborators undertook a series of experiments investigating changes in behavior and neurogenesis in mice that had undergone UCMS. They showed dramatic changes in levels of aggression,[32] anxiety,[33] depressive-like behaviors,[33] and learning,[34] with a concomitant drop in neurogenesis.[34] However, the results were strain- and sex-specific and there did not appear to be a clear-cut correlation between the different changes, so that they finally concluded that although their data do not disprove the idea that deficits in hippocampal neurogenesis solely underlie the behavioral impairments observed in human psychiatric disorders such as depression, they do not provide support for this hypothesis either.[34]

Mouse model of autism

More recently, Crusio investigates the possibility that Fmr1 knockout mice might perhaps be used as a model for autism. This idea is based on the fact that patients suffering from the Fragile X syndrome, caused by a deficiency of the FMR1 gene often show autistic symptoms. A good mouse model for the Fragile X syndrome is available in the form of mice in which the Fmr1 gene (the mouse homologue of the human FMR1 gene) has been invalidated.[35] A review of the findings obtained with these mice in many different laboratories did indeed indicate that these animals display autistic-like symptoms,[36] especially changes in social behavior, a key symptom of autism.[37][38]

Editorial activities

Crusio is the founding editor in chief of Genes, Brain and Behavior,[39] which started in 2002 and currently has an impact factor of 3.795, ranking it 66th out of 230 listed journals in the Neurosciences category and 10th out of 49 listed journals in the Behavioral Sciences category.[40] The standards for the publication of mouse mutant studies that he and his co-editors developed for this journal[41] are gradually being accepted in the field.[42][43] He is an academic editor of PLoS ONE, associate editor of The ScientificWorldJournal, and served as associate editor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1991–2008). Crusio serves or has served on the editorial boards of Behavioral and Brain Functions, Behavior Genetics (1991–1995), Behavioural Brain Research (1997–2007), BMC Neuroscience, BMC Research Notes, Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Journal of Visualized Experiments, Neurogenetics (1998–2006), Open Behavioral Science Journal, Open Neuroscience Journal, and Physiology and Behavior. He edited special issues for the journals Behavior Genetics,[44] Behavioural Brain Research,[45] Physiology and Behavior (with Robert Gerlai),[46] Hippocampus (with Aryeh Routtenberg),[47] and Brain Research Bulletin (with Catherine Belzung and Robert Gerlai).[48] Together with Robert Gerlai he also edited a handbook on molecular genetic techniques for behavioral neuroscience.[49][50]

Community service

In 1996, Crusio was one of two co-founders of the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society,[51] for which he served as member-at-large of the executive committee, treasurer, and president (1998–2001). In 2011 he received from this society the "Distinguished Service Award",[52] which is given for exceptional contributions to the field of behavioral neurogenetics.[53] Crusio also served on the executive committees of the Behavior Genetics Association (from which he resigned in protest to Glayde Whitney's 1995 presidential address),[54] the European Brain and Behaviour Society,[55] and the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS),[56] and has been a President of the Dutch Behavior Genetics Contact Group.[57] He has been a member of several program committees for scientific meetings, most notably the 8th and 10th[58] World Congresses of Psychiatric Genetics and the 2008, 2009 (co-chair), 2010 (chair), and 2011 (chair) Annual Meetings of the IBNS.[59]

Significant papers

According to the Web of Science, Crusio's works have been cited over 2900 times and he has an h-index of 30.[60] Some significant papers are:

References

  1. ^ Schoots AF, Crusio WE, van Abeelen JH (November 1978). "Zinc-induced peripheral anosmia and exploratory behavior in two inbred mouse strains". Physiology and Behavior 21 (5): 779–784. doi:10.1016/0031-9384(78)90018-5. PMID 733951. 
  2. ^ Crusio, W. (1979). "A revision of Anubias Schott (Araceae). (Primitiae Africanae XII)". Mededelingen Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen 79 (14): 1–48. 
  3. ^ Sykora, KV (1984). "A synecological study of the Lolio‑Potentillion anserinae Tuexen 1947 by means of permanent transects. II: Riveri­ne eurysaleutic habitats". Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen. Series C, Biological and medical sciences 87 (2): 181–230. 
  4. ^ "Revision of the genus Anubias: 30 years later". Bulletin of Russian Anubias Forum. http://anubias-engl.blogspot.com/2009/11/revision-of-genus-anubias-30-years.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
  5. ^ "Wim Crusio: "The only reason why I chose to distinguish 5 varieties in A. barteri was purely pragmatic" (an "Amazonas"-Interview) – Part I". Bulletin of Russian Anubias Forum. http://anubias-engl.blogspot.com/2009/11/wim-crusio-only-reason-why-i-chose-to.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
  6. ^ Klix, Wolf-Dieter (2009). "Protokoll der Mitgliederversammlung 2009 des Arbeitskreises Wasserpflanzen in Dresden". Aqua Planta 34 (4): 150–151. http://www.arbeitskreis-wasserpflanzen.de/aquaplanta.php. Retrieved 2010-08-22. "Announcement of re-issue on CD of 1987 German edition of Anubias revision" 
  7. ^ Crusio WE (20 February 1982). "Het geslacht Samolus L." (in Dutch). Communications of the Dutch Waterplant Society 2: 13–25. 
  8. ^ Crusio WE (26 May 1984). "Notes on the genus Samolus L. (Primulaceae)". Communications of the Dutch Waterplant Society 6: 13–16. 
  9. ^ Crusio W.E. and de Graaf A. (April 1986). "Lagenandra dewitii Crusio et de Graaf (Araceae), eine neue Art aus Sri Lanka" (in German). Aqua Planta 11 (2): 56–59. 
  10. ^ Crusio, WE (1984). Olfaction and behavioral responses to novelty in mice: A quantitative-genetic analysis. Meppel: Krips Repro. pp. viii+146+78. 
  11. ^ a b c "Curriculum Vitae Wim E. Crusio". http://www.mousebehavior.com/vitae_wec.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-15. 
  12. ^ "Publications by Humboldt Research Fellows from abroad in 2005: Biosciences, Life Sciences". http://www.avh.de/automat_db/pub_humboldtiana2.humboldtiana_index_pub?p_year=2005&p_group=1&p_fg2=2G. Retrieved 2009-08-11. 
  13. ^ "Liste des boursiers 1987/1988". Annales de la Fondation Fyssen 4. 1989. 
  14. ^ "CNIC UMR5228 - Equipe 3 - Neurogénétique comportementale" (in French). http://www.cnic.u-bordeaux1.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=29. Retrieved 2009-08-15. 
  15. ^ Deris, Yves. "Nouvel arrivant à l'INB, aujourd'hui : Wim CRUSIO" (in French). http://www.inb.u-bordeaux2.fr/siteneuro2/pages/archiindex/Crusio/CrusioWim.php. Retrieved 2009-08-23. 
  16. ^ a b Crusio WE, van Abeelen JH (February 1986). "The genetic architecture of behavioural responses to novelty in mice". Heredity 56 (1): 55–63. doi:10.1038/hdy.1986.8. PMID 3943979. 
  17. ^ Broadhurst, PL; Jinks, JL (1974). "What genetical architecture can tell us about the natural selection of behavioural traits". In van Abeelen, JHF. The Genetics of Behaviour. Amsterdam: North Holland. pp. 43–63. ISBN 0720471370. OCLC 1365968. 
  18. ^ Crusio WE, Schwegler H, van Abeelen JH (February 1989). "Behavioral responses to novelty and structural variation of the hippocampus in mice. I. Quantitative-genetic analysis of behavior in the open-field". Behavioural Brain Research 32 (1): 75–80. doi:10.1016/S0166-4328(89)80074-9. PMID 2930636. 
  19. ^ Crusio WE (November 2001). "Genetic dissection of mouse exploratory behaviour". Behavioural Brain Research 125 (1–2): 127–132. doi:10.1016/S0166-4328(01)00280-7. PMID 11682103. 
  20. ^ Gerlai R, Crusio WE, Csányi V (July 1990). "Inheritance of species-specific behaviors in the paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis): A diallel study". Behavior Genetics 20 (4): 487–498. doi:10.1007/BF01067715. PMID 2256892. 
  21. ^ Schwegler H, Lipp HP, Van der Loos H, Buselmaier W (November 1981). "Individual hippocampal mossy fiber distribution in mice correlates with two-way avoidance performance". Science 214 (4522): 817–819. doi:10.1126/science.7292015. PMID 7292015. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=7292015. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  22. ^ Schwegler H, Lipp HP (April 1981). "Is there a correlation between hippocampal mossy fiber distribution and two-way avoidance performance in mice and rats?". Neuroscience Letters 23 (1): 25–30. PMID 7231813. 
  23. ^ Crusio WE, Schwegler H, Lipp HP (November 1987). "Radial-maze performance and structural variation of the hippocampus in mice: a correlation with mossy fibre distribution". Brain Research 425 (1): 182–185. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(87)90498-7. PMID 3427419. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0006-8993(87)90498-7. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  24. ^ Schwegler H, Crusio WE, Brust I (1990). "Hippocampal mossy fibers and radial-maze learning in the mouse: a correlation with spatial working memory but not with non-spatial reference memory". Neuroscience 34 (2): 293–298. doi:10.1016/0306-4522(90)90139-U. PMID 2333144. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0306-4522(90)90139-U. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  25. ^ Lauder JM, Mugnaini E (July 1977). "Early hyperthyroidism alters the distribution of mossy fibres in the rat hippocampus". Nature 268 (5618): 335–337. doi:10.1038/268335a0. PMID 887162. 
  26. ^ Schwegler H, Crusio WE, Lipp HP, Brust I, Mueller GG (July 1991). "Early postnatal hyperthyroidism alters hippocampal circuitry and improves radial-maze learning in adult mice". Journal of Neuroscience 11 (7): 2102–2106. PMID 2066776. http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=2066776. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  27. ^ Crusio WE, Schwegler H (July 1991). "Early postnatal hyperthyroidism improves both working and reference memory in a spatial radial-maze task in adult mice". Physiology & Behavior 50 (1): 259–261. doi:10.1016/0031-9384(91)90530-2. PMID 1946727. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0031-9384(91)90530-2. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  28. ^ Crusio WE, Schwegler H (April 2005). "Learning spatial orientation tasks in the radial-maze and structural variation in the hippocampus in inbred mice". Behavioral and Brain Functions 1 (3): 1–11. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-1-3. PMC 1143776. PMID 15916698. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1143776. 
  29. ^ Morris, R (2007). "Theories of hippocampal function". In Andersen, J; Morris, R; Amaral, D et al.. The Hippocampus Bookr. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 581–713. ISBN 978-0-19-510027-3. 
  30. ^ Willner P (December 1997). "Validity, reliability and utility of the chronic mild stress model of depression: a 10-year review and evaluation". Psychopharmacology 134 (4): 319–329. doi:10.1007/s002130050456. PMID 9452163. http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00213/bibs/7134004/71340319.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-15. 
  31. ^ Kempermann G, Kronenberg G (September 2003). "Depressed new neurons--adult hippocampal neurogenesis and a cellular plasticity hypothesis of major depression". Biological Psychiatry 54 (5): 499–503. doi:10.1016/S0006-3223(03)00319-6. PMID 12946878. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006322303003196. Retrieved 2009-08-15. 
  32. ^ Mineur YS, Prasol DJ, Belzung C, Crusio WE (September 2003). "Agonistic behavior and unpredictable chronic mild stress in mice". Behavior Genetics 33 (5): 513–519. doi:10.1023/A:1025770616068. PMID 14574128. http://www.kluweronline.com/art.pdf?issn=0001-8244&volume=33&page=513. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
  33. ^ a b Mineur YS, Belzung C, Crusio WE (November 2006). "Effects of unpredictable chronic mild stress on anxiety and depression-like behavior in mice". Behavioural Brain Research 175 (1): 43–50. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2006.07.029. PMID 17023061. 
  34. ^ a b c Mineur YS, Belzung C, Crusio WE (December 2007). "Functional implications of decreases in neurogenesis following chronic mild stress in mice". Neuroscience 150 (2): 251–259. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2007.09.045. PMID 17981399. 
  35. ^ The Dutch-Belgian Fragile X Consortium (July 1994). "Fmr1 knockout mice: a model to study fragile X mental retardation". Cell 78 (1): 23–33. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(94)90569-X. PMID 8033209. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0092-8674(94)90569-X. Retrieved 2009-08-15. 
  36. ^ Bernardet M, Crusio WE (2006). "Fmr1 KO mice as a possible model of autistic features". TheScientificWorldJournal 6: 1164–1176. doi:10.1100/tsw.2006.220. PMID 16998604. 
  37. ^ Mineur YS, Huynh LX, Crusio WE (March 2006). "Social behavior deficits in the Fmr1 mutant mouse". Behavioural Brain Research 168 (1): 172–175. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2005.11.004. PMID 16343653. 
  38. ^ Spencer CM, Alekseyenko O, Serysheva E, Yuva-Paylor LA, Paylor R (October 2005). "Altered anxiety-related and social behaviors in the Fmr1 knockout mouse model of fragile X syndrome". Genes, Brain and Behavior 4 (7): 420–430. doi:10.1111/j.1601-183X.2005.00123.x. PMID 16176388. 
  39. ^ Pagel, Mark (7 May 2004). "The order in a billion sequences". Times Higher Education. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=188536&sectioncode=26. Retrieved 2010-07-09. 
  40. ^ "Web of Science". 2008. http://isiwebofknowledge.com. Retrieved 2009–08–11. 
  41. ^ Crusio WE, Goldowitz D, Holmes A, Wolfer D (February 2009). "Standards for the publication of mouse mutant studies". Genes, Brain and Behavior 8 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1111/j.1601-183X.2008.00438.x. PMID 18778401. 
  42. ^ "European Journal of Neuroscience: Instructions for authors". http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118542297/home/ForAuthors.html. Retrieved 2009-08-30. 
  43. ^ Editorial (2009-09). "Troublesome variability in mouse studies". Nature Neuroscience 12 (9): 1075. doi:10.1038/nn0909-1075. PMID 19710643. http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v12/n9/abs/nn0909-1075.html. Retrieved 2009-08-30. 
  44. ^ Crusio, Wim E. (September 1996). Crusio WE. ed. "Special issue: The neurobehavioral genetics of aggression". Behavior Genetics 26 (5): 459–504. doi:10.1007/BF02359749. http://www.springerlink.com/content/qh123t688p47/?p=19b76978284d46ad9ba5698f4eb3c769&pi=77. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  45. ^ Crusio WE, ed (September 1998). "Special issue: The genetic dissection of brain-behaviour relationships: An introduction to neurobehavioural genetics". Behavioural Brain Research 95 (1): 1–142. doi:10.1016/S0166-4328(97)00203-9. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%234840%231998%23999049998%2317924%23FLA%23&_cdi=4840&_pubType=J&_auth=y&_acct=C000025358&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=513493&md5=094a14a497927f37dfc984b8df87c6f0. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  46. ^ Gerlai RT, Crusio WE, ed (August 2001). "Special issue: Bridging the gap from gene to behavior: Recombinant DNA techniques merge with behavioral neurobiology". Physiology and Behavior 73 (5): 671–886. doi:10.1016/S0031-9384(01)00583-2. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%234868%232001%23999269994%23263983%23FLA%23&_cdi=4868&_pubType=J&_auth=y&_acct=C000025358&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=513493&md5=036dbb55c5c22b306db757cbb81fc27f. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  47. ^ Routtenberg A, Crusio WE, ed (February 2001). "Special Issue: Gene Targeting and Hippocampal Function". Hippocampus 12 (1): 1–108. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/90010627/issue. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  48. ^ Belzung C, Crusio WE, Gerlai RT, ed (January 2002). "Special issue: Behavioral neurogenetics, the genetic dissection of brain and behavior". Brain Research Bulletin 57 (1): 1–131. doi:10.1016/S0361-9230(01)00629-3. PMID 11827730. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/90010627/issue. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  49. ^ Crusio, WE and Gerlai, RT (1999). Handbook of Molecular-Genetic Techniques for Brain and Behavior Research. Amsterdam: Elsevier. pp. xxvii+965. ISBN 0-444-50239-4. 
  50. ^ "Crusio, W.E. [WorldCat Identities]". http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n99-46580. Retrieved 2009-08-11. 
  51. ^ "IBANGS History". IBANGS Homepage. http://www.ibangs.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=83923&orgId=ibngs. Retrieved 2009-04-01. 
  52. ^ "IBANGS Awards". IBANGS Homepage. http://www.ibangs.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=83207&orgId=ibngs. Retrieved 2011-11-25. 
  53. ^ "Call for 2011 IBANGS award nominations". IBANGS Homepage. http://www.ibangs.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=93495&orgId=ibngs. Retrieved 2011-11-25. 
  54. ^ Loehlin, John (2009-04-01). "History of behavior genetics". In Kim, Yong-Kyu. Handbook of Behavior Genetics. Berlin: Springer. pp. 3–11. ISBN 978-0-387-76726-0. http://books.google.com/?id=T3P_SLtfIN0C&lpg=PA11&dq=crusio%20%22glayde%20whitney%22&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q=crusio%20%22glayde%20whitney%22. 
  55. ^ "Past committee members". http://www.ebbs-science.org/cms/general/committee-members.html. Retrieved 2009-08-11. 
  56. ^ "IBNS History of Officers". http://www.ibnshomepage.org/history.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-11. 
  57. ^ Crusio, W.E. (1991). "Obituary Sjeng Kerbusch (1947-1991)". Behavior Genetics 21 (5): 431–432. 
  58. ^ "Xth World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics - Committees". Archived from the original on 30 September 2002. http://web.archive.org/web/20020930114155/http://www.wcpg2002.be/. Retrieved 2010-07-09. 
  59. ^ "IBNS Committees/Mission Statements". http://www.ibnshomepage.org/committees.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-11. 
  60. ^ "Wim Crusio A-7070-2008". ResearcherID. http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-7070-2008. Retrieved 2011-11-25. 

External links