Science that informs our work

Cartesan is grounded in peer-reviewed research, including a substantial body of work generated by our own research programs and collaborations. This page highlights selected publications and short, accessible summaries that reflect the scientific foundations of Cartesan—spanning stress resilience, anxiety, motivation and mood-related functioning, and the metabolic and mitochondrial mechanisms that shape behavior.

Here you will find:

  • Selected peer-reviewed articles from our work and close collaborations
  • Brief summaries that distill the key findings, implications and limitations
  • Links to additional publications for readers who want full depth
Brain mitochondria, metabolism & bioenergetics in mental health

Mechanistic and translational work on how mitochondrial and metabolic biology shapes anxiety, vulnerability/resilience and related phenotypes—plus intervention-relevant avenues.

  • Mallet D, Ülgen DH, Grosse J, Zanoletti O, Guillot de Suduiraut I, Monzel AS, D’Amico D, Rinsch C, Picard M, Astori S, Sandi C. Urolithin A Abolishes High Anxiety and Rescues the Associated Mitochondria-Related Transcriptomic Signatures and Synaptic Function. Biological Psychiatry (2025). DOI
  • Hollis F, van der Kooij MA, Zanoletti O, Lozano L, Cantó C, Sandi C. Mitochondrial function in the brain links anxiety with social subordination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (2015). DOI
  • Gebara E, Zanoletti O, Ghosal S, Grosse J, Schneider BL, Knott G, Astori S, Sandi C. Mitofusin-2 in the Nucleus Accumbens Regulates Anxiety and Depression-like Behaviors Through Mitochondrial and Neuronal Actions. Biological Psychiatry (2021). DOI
  • Filiou MD, Sandi C. Anxiety and Brain Mitochondria: A Bidirectional Crosstalk. Trends in Neurosciences (2019). DOI
  • Chioino A, Sandi C. The Emerging Role of Brain Mitochondria in Fear and Anxiety. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences (2025). DOI
  • Weger M, Alpern D, Cherix A, Ghosal S, Grosse J, Russeil J, Gruetter R, de Kloet ER, Deplancke B, Sandi C. Mitochondrial gene signature in the prefrontal cortex for differential susceptibility to chronic stress. Scientific Reports (2020). DOI
  • Cherix A, Larrieu T, Grosse J, Rodrigues J, McEwen B, Nasca C, Gruetter R, Sandi C. Metabolic signature in nucleus accumbens for anti-depressant-like effects of acetyl-L-carnitine. eLife (2020). DOI
  • Zalachoras I, Hollis F, Ramos-Fernández E, Trovo L, Sonnay S, Geiser E, Preitner N, Steiner P, Sandi C, Morató L. Therapeutic potential of glutathione-enhancers in stress-related psychopathologies. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (2020). DOI
  • Hollis F, Mitchell ES, Canto C, Wang D, Sandi C. Medium chain triglyceride diet reduces anxiety- like behaviors and enhances social competitiveness in rats. Neuropharmacology (2018). DOI
  • Picard M, McEwen BS, Epel ES, Sandi C. An energetic view of stress: Focus on mitochondria. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology (2018). DOI
  • Ryu D, Mouchiroud L, Andreux PA, Katsyuba E, Nicolet-dit-Félix AA, Williams EG, Moullan N, Jha P, Lo Sasso G, Huzard D, Aebischer P, Sandi C, Rinsch C, Auwerx J. Urolithin A induces mitophagy and improves muscle function. Nature Medicine (2016). DOI
  • Micali N, Miletta MC, Clemmensen C, Pappaianni E, Lazeyras F, Cuenoud B, Sandi C. Providing alternative fuel for the brain in anorexia nervosa: a review of the literature on ketones and their effects on metabolism and the brain. Translational Psychiatry (2025). DOI
Motivation, effort & decision-making

Work on effort allocation and motivated behavior, including neurometabolic and circuit-linked predictors of mental and physical effort.

  • Clairis N, Barakat A, Brochard J, Xin L, Sandi C. A neurometabolic mechanism involving dmPFC/dACC lactate in physical effort-based decision-making. Molecular Psychiatry (2025). DOI
  • Barakat A, Brochard J, Pessiglione M, Godin JP, Cuenoud B, Xin L, Clairis N, Sandi C. Neurometabolic predictors of mental effort in the frontal cortex. Translational Psychiatry (2025). DOI
  • Zalachoras I, Ramos-Fernández E, Hollis F, Trovo L, Rodrigues J, Strasser A, Zanoletti O, Steiner P, Preitner N, Xin L, Astori S, Sandi C. Glutathione in the nucleus accumbens regulates motivation to exert reward-incentivized effort. eLife (2022). DOI
  • Zalachoras I, Astori S, Meijer M, Grosse J, Zanoletti O, Guillot de Suduiraut I, Deussing JM, Sandi C. Opposite effects of stress on effortful motivation in high and low anxiety are mediated by CRHR1 in the VTA. Science Advances (2022). DOI
  • Strasser A, Luksys G, Xin L, Pessiglione M, Gruetter R, Sandi C. Glutamine-to-glutamate ratio in the nucleus accumbens predicts effort-based motivated performance in humans. Neuropsychopharmacology (2020). DOI
  • Berchio C, Rodrigues J, Strasser A, Michel CM, Sandi C. Trait anxiety on effort allocation to monetary incentives: a behavioral and high-density EEG study. Translational Psychiatry (2019). DOI
  • Bendahan S, Goette L, Thoresen J, Loued-Khenissi L, Hollis F, Sandi C. Acute stress alters individual risk taking in a time-dependent manner and leads to anti-social risk. European Journal of Neuroscience (2017). DOI
  • Goette L, Bendahan S, Thoresen JC, Hollis F, Sandi C. Stress pulls us apart: Anxiety leads to differences in competitive confidence under stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2015). DOI
Stress biology, glucocorticoids, trauma & PTSD

Mechanisms linking stress-hormone signaling to behavioral outcomes, including trauma-related vulnerability and translational implications.

  • Monari S, Guillot de Suduiraut I, Grosse J, Zanoletti O, Walker SE, Mesquita M, Wood TC, Cash D, Astori S, Sandi C. Blunted Glucocorticoid Responsiveness to Stress Causes Behavioral and Biological Alterations That Lead to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Vulnerability. Biological Psychiatry (2024). DOI
  • Florido A, Velasco ER, Monari S, Cano M, Cardoner N, Sandi C, Andero R, Perez-Caballero L. Glucocorticoid-based pharmacotherapies preventing PTSD. Neuropharmacology (2023). DOI
  • Richter-Levin G, Sandi C. Labels Matter: Is it stress or is it Trauma?. Translational Psychiatry (2021). DOI
  • Daviu N, Bruchas MR, Moghaddam B, Sandi C, Beyeler A. Neurobiological links between stress and anxiety. Neurobiology of Stress (2019). DOI
  • Huzard D, Vouros A, Monari S, Astori S, Vasilaki E, Sandi C. Constitutive differences in glucocorticoid responsiveness are related to divergent spatial information processing abilities. Stress (2020). DOI
  • Sandi C. Stress and cognition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science (2013). DOI
  • Luksys G, Sandi C. Neural mechanisms and computations underlying stress effects on learning and memory. Current Opinion in Neurobiology (2011). DOI
  • Sandi C. Glucocorticoids act on glutamatergic pathways to affect memory processes. Trends in Neurosciences (2011). DOI
  • Sandi C. Stress, cognitive impairment and cell adhesion molecules. Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2004). DOI
Human phenotyping platforms: immersive VR, neuroimaging & physiology

Methods-driven work enabling high-resolution assessment of stress reactivity, behavior, and
physiological responsiveness in humans.

  • Rodrigues J, Studer E, Streuber S, Sandi C. IMVEST, an immersive multimodal virtual environment stress test for humans that adjusts challenge to individual’s performance.
    Neurobiology of Stress (2021). DOI
  • Rodrigues J, Studer E, Streuber S, Meyer N, Sandi C. Locomotion in virtual environments predicts cardiovascular responsiveness to subsequent stressful challenges. Nature Communications (2020). DOI
  • Ellena G, Bertoni T, Durand-Ruel M, Thoresen J, Sandi C, Serino A. Acute stress affects peripersonal space representation in cortisol stress responders. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2022). DOI
  • Strasser A, Xin L, Gruetter R, Sandi C. Nucleus accumbens neurochemistry in human anxiety: A 7 T 1H-MRS study. European Neuropsychopharmacology (2019). DOI
  • Thoresen JC, Francelet R, Coltekin A, Richter KF, Fabrikant SI, Sandi C. Not all anxious individuals get lost: Trait anxiety and mental rotation ability interact to explain performance in map-based route learning in men. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (2016). DOI
  • Luethi M, Meier B, Sandi C. Stress effects on working memory, explicit memory, and implicit memory for neutral and emotional stimuli in healthy men. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience (2009). DOI
Social behavior, hierarchy & aggression

Work on social dominance, status, aggression, and social functioning—linking stress systems and metabolic/mitochondrial biology to social phenotypes.

  • Ghosal S, Gebara E, Ramos-Fernández E, Chioino A, Grosse J, Guillot de Suduiraut I, Zanoletti O, Schneider B, Zorzano A, Astori S, Sandi C. Mitofusin-2 in nucleus accumbens D2-MSNs regulates social dominance and neuronal function. Cell Reports (2023). DOI
  • Ülgen DH, Ruigrok SR, Sandi C. Powering the social brain: Mitochondria in social behaviour. Current Opinion in Neurobiology (2023). DOI
  • Morató L, Astori S, Zalachoras I, Rodrigues J, Ghosal S, Huang W, Guillot de Suduiraut I, Grosse J, Zanoletti O, Cao L, Auwerx J, Sandi C. eNAMPT actions through nucleus accumbens NAD+/SIRT1 link increased adiposity with sociability deficits programmed by peripuberty stress. Science Advances (2022). DOI
  • Picard M, Sandi C. The social nature of mitochondria: Implications for human health. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (2021). DOI
  • Larrieu T, Cherix A, Duque A, Rodrigues J, Lei H, Gruetter R, Sandi C. Hierarchical Status Predicts Behavioral Vulnerability and Nucleus Accumbens Metabolic Profile Following Chronic Social Defeat Stress. Current Biology (2017). DOI
  • da Cruz J, Rodrigues J, Thoresen JC, Chicherov V, Figueiredo P, Herzog MH, Sandi C. Dominant men are faster in decision-making situations and exhibit a distinct neural signal for promptness. Cerebral Cortex (2018). DOI
  • Walker SE, Zanoletti O, Guillot de Suduiraut I, Sandi C. Constitutive differences in glucocorticoid responsiveness to stress are related to variation in aggression and anxiety-related behaviors. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2017). DOI
  • Sandi C, Haller J. Stress and the social brain: behavioral effects and neurobiological mechanisms. Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2015). DOI
  • Larrieu T, Sandi C. Stress-Induced Depression: Is Social Rank a Predictive Risk Factor? BioEssays (2018). DOI
  • Bendahan S, Goette L, Thoresen J, Loued-Khenissi L, Hollis F, Sandi C. Acute stress alters individual risk taking in a time-dependent manner and leads to anti-social risk. European Journal of Neuroscience (2017). DOI
  • Goette L, Bendahan S, Thoresen JC, Hollis F, Sandi C. Stress pulls us apart: Anxiety leads to differences in competitive confidence under stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2015). DOI
Stress across the lifespan: development, vulnerability & aging

How stress exposure and individual differences shape long-term outcomes—from development and adolescence to aging-related vulnerability.

  • Taborsky B, English S, Fawcett TW, Kuijper B, Leimar O, McNamara JM, Ruuskanen S, Sandi C. Towards an evolutionary theory of stress responses. Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2021). DOI
  • Tzanoulinou S, Gantelet E, Sandi C, Márquez C. Programming effects of peripubertal stress on spatial learning. Neurobiology of Stress (2020). DOI
  • Cordero MI, Just N, Poirier GL, Sandi C. Effects of paternal and peripubertal stress on aggression, anxiety, and metabolic alterations in the lateral septum. European Neuropsychopharmacology (2016). DOI
  • Weger M, Sandi C. High anxiety trait: A vulnerable phenotype for stress- nduced depression. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (2018). DOI
  • Cordero MI, Ansermet F, Sandi C. Long-term programming of enhanced aggression by peripuberty stress in female rats. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2013). DOI
  • Tzanoulinou S, Sandi C. The Programming of the Social Brain by Stress During Childhood and Adolescence: From Rodents to Humans. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences (2017). DOI
  • Walker SE, Papilloud A, Huzard D, Sandi C. The link between aberrant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity during development and the emergence of aggression-Animal studies. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (2018). DOI
  • Sandi C. Biological Signatures of Brain Aging and Accelerated Aging by Early Life Threat. Biological Psychiatry (2019). DOI
  • Luksys G, Gerstner W, Sandi C. Stress, genotype and norepinephrine in the prediction of mouse behavior using reinforcement learning. Nature Neuroscience (2009). DOI
  • Sandi C, Richter-Levin G. From high anxiety trait to depression: a neurocognitive hypothesis. Trends in Neurosciences (2009). DOI
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