Wim E. Crusio (born Wilhelmus Elisabeth Crusio on 20 December 1954) is a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

behavioral Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as we ...

neurogeneticist and a '' directeur de recherche'' (research director) with the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...

Talence Talence (, ; oc, Talança, ; ca, Talença, ) is a commune in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side. It is ...

, France.

Education and career

Crusio received his bachelor's degree in biology from

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...

in 1975, where he went on to obtain a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and then a PhD in 1979 and 1984, respectively. His ''

Anubias ''Anubias'' is a genus of aquatic and semi-aquatic flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to tropical central and western Africa. They primarily grow in rivers and streams, but can also be found in marshes. They are characterized by broad ...

'' revision, which was originally published in 1979, was translated in German and continues to engender interest. For his PhD thesis, Crusio studied the inheritance of the effects of

anosmia Anosmia, also known as smell blindness, is the loss of the ability to detect one or more smells. Anosmia may be temporary or permanent. It differs from hyposmia, which is a decreased sensitivity to some or all smells. Anosmia can be due to a nu ...

on exploratory behavior of mice, and more in general the

genetic architecture Genetic architecture is the underlying genetic basis of a phenotypic trait and its variational properties. Phenotypic variation for quantitative traits is, at the most basic level, the result of the segregation of alleles at quantitative trait l ...

of exploratory behavior, using quantitative-genetic methods such as the

diallel cross A diallel cross is a mating scheme used by plant and animal breeders, as well as geneticists, to investigate the genetic underpinnings of quantitative traits.Hallauer, A. R. and J. B. Miranda Filho. 1988 Quantitative genetics in maize breeding. 2nd ...

. From 1984 to 1987, Crusio worked as a postdoc at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, supported by a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Science Fellowship and an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. During 1988, Crusio spent a year in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, supported by a fellowship from the

Fyssen Foundation The Fyssen Foundation (French: Fondation Fyssen) is a French charitable organization that was established and endowed in 1979 by H. Fyssen. The aim of the foundation is to stimulate research into the processes underlying and leading to cognition, i ...

. 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 Descartes University (french: Université Paris 5 René Descartes, links=no), also known as Paris V, was a French public university located in Paris. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 ...

(Paris V) and later moving to the CNRS campus in

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and In 2000 he became full

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

psychiatry Psychiatry is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psych ...

at the

University of Massachusetts Medical School The University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School is a public medical school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is part of the University of Massachusetts system. It is home to three schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Grad ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, returning to the CNRS in 2005 as a group leader in the Centre de Neurosciences Intégratives et Cognitives in

, a suburb of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

. He is currently adjunct director of the Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine.

Research

Hippocampal mossy fibers

Crusio and his collaborators found that neuroanatomical variations in the mouse

hippocampus The hippocampus (via Latin from Greek , ' seahorse') is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, ...

, in particular the sizes of their intra- and infrapyramidal mossy fibers (IIPMF) correlated with learning performance. Together with Herbert Schwegler and Hans-Peter Lipp, Crusio showed that an inverse correlation, that is, animals with larger IIPMF learn better, could be found for

spatial learning In cognitive psychology and neuroscience, spatial memory is a form of memory responsible for the recording and recovery of information needed to plan a course to a location and to recall the location of an object or the occurrence of an event. Sp ...

in a

radial arm maze The radial arm maze was designed by Olton and Samuelson in 1976 to measure spatial learning and memory in rats. The original apparatus consists of eight equidistantly spaced arms, each about 4 feet long, and all radiating from a small circular cen ...

task. Taken together, Crusio and collaborators think that it is highly likely that this correlation is

causal Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the ca ...

, although this is not universally accepted.

Mouse model of depression

When mice are exposed to unpredictable chronic mild

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

(UCMS), they start exhibiting symptoms reminiscent of

major depressive disorder Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...

in humans. As it had been suggested that deficits in hippocampal neurogenesis might underlie depression, 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,

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, depressive-like behaviors, and learning, with a concomitant drop in neurogenesis. 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.

Mouse model of autism

More recently, Crusio has been investigating the possibility that ''

Fmr1 ''FMR1'' (Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1) is a human gene that codes for a protein called ''fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein'', or FMRP. This protein, most commonly found in the brain, is essential for normal cognitive development ...

'' knockout mice might perhaps be used as a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

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. A review of the findings obtained with these mice in many different laboratories did indeed indicate that these animals display autistic-like symptoms, especially changes in

social behavior Social behavior is behavior among two or more organisms within the same species, and encompasses any behavior in which one member affects the other. This is due to an interaction among those members. Social behavior can be seen as similar to an ...

, a key symptom of autism.

Editorial activities

Crusio is the founding

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''

Genes, Brain and Behavior ''Genes, Brain and Behavior'' (also known as ''G2B'') is a peer-reviewed online-only scientific journal covering research in the fields of behavioural genetics, behavioral, neurogenetics, neural, and psychiatric genetics. It is published by Wiley- ...

'', which he edited from 2001 to 2011. The standards for the publication of mouse mutant studies that he and his co-editors developed for this journal are gradually being accepted in the field. Since 2017, Crusio is the editor-in-chief of ''

Behavioral and Brain Functions ''Behavioral and Brain Functions'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by BioMed Central. It publishes articles on "all aspects of neurobiology where the unifying theme is behavior or behavioral dysfunction". It was e ...

'' and since 2019 co-editor of ''

Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ''Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology'' is a peer-reviewed book series. It covers the broad fields of experimental medicine and biology. The series was established in 1967 and is published by Springer Nature. The editors-in-chief are ...

''. He is also an academic editor of '' PLoS ONE'' and served as associate editor of ''

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ''Behavioral and Brain Sciences'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of Open Peer Commentary established in 1978 by Stevan Harnad and published by Cambridge University Press. It is modeled on the journal ''Current Anthropology'' (whic ...

'' (1991–2008) and ''

The Scientific World Journal ''The Scientific World Journal'' (formerly, ''The ScientificWorldJournal'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering fields in the life sciences ranging from biomedicine to environmental sciences. It was established in 2001 and is publish ...

'' (2002-2011). Crusio serves or has served on the

editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, ...

s of ''Behavioral and Brain Functions,

Behavior Genetics Behavioural genetics, also referred to as behaviour genetics, is a field of scientific research that uses genetic methods to investigate the nature and origins of individual differences in behaviour. While the name "behavioural genetics" ...

'' (1991–1995), ''

Behavioural Brain Research ''Behavioural Brain Research'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Elsevier. The journal publishes articles in the field of behavioural neuroscience. Volume 1 appeared in 1980 and issues appeared 6 times per year; as submissions ...

'' (1997–2007), '' BMC Neuroscience'', ''

BMC Research Notes BioMed Central (BMC) is a United Kingdom-based, for-profit scientific open access publisher that produces over 250 scientific journals. All its journals are published online only. BioMed Central describes itself as the first and largest open ...

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience Frontiers Media SA is a publisher of peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journals currently active in science, technology, and medicine. It was founded in 2007 by Kamila and Henry Markram, and has since expanded to other academic fields. ...

Journal of Visualized Experiments The ''Journal of Visualized Experiments'' (styled ''JoVE'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes experimental methods in video format. The journal is based in Cambridge, MA and was established in December 2006. Moshe Pritsker is the ...

, Molecular Brain ''(2012-2017)'',

Neurogenetics Neurogenetics studies the role of genetics in the development and function of the nervous system. It considers neural characteristics as phenotypes (i.e. manifestations, measurable or not, of the genetic make-up of an individual), and is mainly bas ...

'' (1998–2006), '' Physiology and Behavior'', and ''

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences ''Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of the behavioral sciences. It was established in 2015 and is published by Elsevier as part of their '' Current Opinion'' series of journa ...

''. He edited special issues for the journals ''Behavior Genetics'', ''Behavioural Brain Research'', ''Physiology and Behavior'' (with Robert Gerlai), ''

Hippocampus The hippocampus (via Latin from Greek , ' seahorse') is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, ...

'' (with Aryeh Routtenberg), and ''

Brain Research Bulletin ''Brain Research Bulletin'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering neuroscience. It was established in 1976 with Matthew J. Wayner (then at Syracuse University) as founding editor in chief. Later it was edited by Stephen Dunnett ( Car ...

'' (with Catherine Belzung and Robert Gerlai). Together with Robert Gerlai he also edited a

handbook A handbook is a type of reference work, or other collection of instructions, that is intended to provide ready reference. The term originally applied to a small or portable book containing information useful for its owner, but the ''Oxford Engl ...

molecular genetic Molecular genetics is a sub-field of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the ...

techniques for behavioral neuroscience. Currently, he is editing the ''Cambridge Handbooks in Behavioral Genetics'', a series of handbooks published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, of which the first volume, ''Behavioral Genetics of the Mouse: Genetics of Behavioral Phenotypes'', appeared in 2013. Since then, two more volumes have appeared.

Community service

In 1996, Crusio was one of two co-founders of the

International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society The International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society (IBANGS) is a learned society that was founded in 1996. The goal of IBANGS is "promote and facilitate the growth of research in the field of neural behavioral genetics". Profile Mission Th ...

, for which he served as member-at-large of the executive committee,

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

, and

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

(1998–2001). In 2011 he received from this society the "Distinguished Service Award", which is given for exceptional contributions to the field of behavioral neurogenetics. Crusio also served on the executive committees of the

Behavior Genetics Association The Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) is a learned society established in 1970 and which promotes research into the connections between heredity and behavior, both human and animal. Its members support education and training in behavior genetic ...

(from which he resigned in protest to Glayde Whitney's 1995 presidential address), the European Brain and Behaviour Society, and the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society, and has been a President of the Dutch Behavior Genetics Contact Group. He has been a member of several program committees for scientific meetings, most notably the 8th and 10th World Congresses of Psychiatric Genetics and the 2008, 2009 (co-chair), 2010 (chair), and 2011 (chair) Annual Meetings of the IBNS.

Significant papers

According to

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes p ...

, Crusio's works have been cited over 9000 times and he has an

h-index The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with obvious success indicators such as ...

of 46. Some significant papers are: * Original publication: * * * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crusio, Wim 1954 births Living people Scientific journal editors Behavior geneticists Dutch neuroscientists 20th-century biologists 20th-century Dutch biologists 21st-century biologists 21st-century Dutch biologists People from Bergen op Zoom Radboud University Nijmegen alumni University of Massachusetts Medical School faculty Botanists with author abbreviations French National Centre for Scientific Research scientists 20th-century Dutch botanists 21st-century Dutch botanists Founders of learned societies Ethologists Book editors Dutch expatriates in France