A bone to pick with compulsive behavior.
Mice with mutations in the Hoxb8 gene exhibit compulsive grooming behavior. Chen et al. (2010) now report that this behavior stems from Hoxb8 deficiency in microglia, a type of immune cell in the brain derived from bone marrow. These findings provide intriguing connections between immune dysfunction and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Hyman
Steven E
SE
Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. seh@harvard.edu