Lars Olson, Ph.D.

Olson Laboratory

Research Focus

Our group studies development, growth factors, inhibitory factors, regeneration, transplantation in the central nervous system, the dopamine system, models for Parkinson's disease and its treatment, models for spinal cord injury and treatment strategies, the roles of transcription factors in the nervous system and genetic risk factors for Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. Research has been taken all the way from animal studies to clinical trials.

Our current focus is: (1) Spinal cord injury and the development of post-injury protection and repair strategies: we have recently shown how a class of cancer medicines may protect the injured spinal cord; (2) The role of the Nogo nerve growth inhibitory system in CNS plasticity, memory, aging and repair: we have recent data to suggest a key role for the Nogo receptor in the formation of life-long memories; (3) Genetics and modeling of Parkinson's disease with one focus on the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the brain: we carry out case-control studies in large materials, locate transcriptional activity of implicated genes and have recently developed a genetic mouse model that develop slow progressive PD-like pathology and symptoms; (4) Schizophrenia: the role of cortical cholinergic dysfunction in schizophrenia is beeing addressed; (5) MRI development: we use fMRI and MR spectroscopy to map functional and chemical changes in the rodent brain in vivo; (6) Aging: we analyze the brain phenotype of a novel genetic model of aging.

Selected Publications