Prof. Boaz Barak
Research work
In the Barak lab we study the neurobiological mechanisms responsible for abnormal social and anxiety-like behaviors in genetic neuropsychiatric disorders such as Williams syndrome and autism.
We study how genes, molecular processes and brain regions regulate social and anxiety-related behaviors in health and illness, and focus our research on understanding how these factors are disrupted in genetic neurodevelopmental disorders. Ultimately, we aspire to translate findings from our basic research to clinical aspects that will hopefully improve the diagnosis, understanding and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Areas of interest & scientific knowledge
Behavioral Neuroscience
Brain Disorders Research
Neurodevelopment and Neurogenetic Research
Specialization
Methodology
Selected Publications
- Barak B* , Zhang Z, Liu Y, Nir A, Trangle S, Ennis M, Levandowski K.M, Wang D, Quast K, L. Boulting G.L, Li Y, Bayarsaihan D, He Z * and Feng G*. Neuronal deletion of Gtf2i, associated with Williams syndrome, causes behavioral and myelin alterations rescuable by a remyelinating drug. Nature Neuroscience , 2019.
- Barak B and Feng G. Neurobiology of social behavior abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders and Williams syndrome. Nature Neuroscience, 2016.
- Nir A, Barak B. White matter alterations in Williams syndrome related to behavioral and motor impairments. GLIA, 2020
- Bar E , Barak B. Microglia roles in synaptic plasticity and myelination in homeostatic conditions and neurodevelopmental disorders. GLIA , 2019.
- Zhou Y, Kaiser T, Monteiro P, Zhang X, Van der Goes M, Wang D, Barak B, Zeng M, Li C, Lu C, Wells M, Amaya A, Nguyen S, Lewis M, Sanjana N, Zhou Y, Zhang M, Zhang F, Fu Z and Feng G. Mice with Shank3 Mutations Associated with ASD and Schizophrenia Display Both Shared and Distinct Defects. Neuron, 2016.
