The effects of maternal immune activation on behaviour and hippocampal function
Epidemiological evidence indicates that infection during pregnancy is a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia in the offspring. Maternal immune activation (MIA) animal models can be used to examine the changes that maternal infection produces in behaviour and brain function. In our lab we have focused on the effects of poly (I:C) induced MIA on hippocampal function, with a particular interest in how it changes the synchrony of neural firing.
In this talk I will outline some of the characteristics outcomes of MIA in a rodent animal model and then describe work from our lab that has revealed MIA-related changes in neural synchrony in the hippocampus and related structures. If these changes occur in schizophrenia, they may underlie alterations in the sequential ordering of experience and reward processing that could contribute to the symptoms of the disorder.
