Emine Eren Koçak
Hacettepe University
Date/Time: Thursday, 22 January 2026, 16:30 am
Place: Aysel Sabuncu Brain Research Center Seminar Room (SC-106)
Abstract:
One of the most fundamental questions in psychiatry is why certain individuals develop mental disorders after exposure to stressors while others don’t. This talk explores the neurobiological basis of stress susceptibility. Dendritic atrophy is well-demonstrated after chronic stress exposure in medial prefrontal cortex(mPFC), which is circuit specific: Chronic stress induces dendritic atrophy in entorhinal cortex–projecting pyramidal neurons but spares basolateral amygdala (BLA)–projecting pyramidal neurons. We examined whether synapses onto the mPFC exhibit similar region-specificity and whether these morphological changes are adaptive. Intriguingly, we found that layer-specific reorganization of basolateral amygdala and hippocampal inputs to the mPFC distinguishes stress-susceptible mice from stress-resilient ones.
Bio:
Emine Eren-Koçak is a Professor at the Institute of Neurological Sciences and Psychiatry at Hacettepe University. She is a psychiatrist and holds a PhD degree in neuroscience. She completed her PhD dissertation thesis at the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Huda Akil. Her research focuses on the fundamental mechanisms underlying stress-related psychiatric disorders and neurodevelopmental disorders. She is particularly interested in the neurobiological mechanisms that render individuals susceptible to stress. She is a recipient of the Science Academy’s Young Scientists Award Program (BAGEP), the Hacettepe Science Incentive Award, and the Türkan Saylan Science Award.