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Cited by 158Tryptophan and brain disordersSchizophrenia research and treatmentNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Neural basis of psychosis-related behaviour in the infection model of schizophrenia

Meyer, Urs, Feldon, Joram·2009·Behavioural Brain Research
DOI 10.1016/j.bbr.2008.12.022
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Abstract

Maternal infection during pregnancy is a notable risk factor for the offspring to develop severe neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. One prevalent hypothesis suggests that infection-induced disruption of early prenatal brain development predisposes the organism for long-lasting structural and functional brain abnormalities, leading to the emergence of psychopathological behaviour in adulthood. The feasibility of this causal link has received considerable support from several experimental models established in both rats and mice. In this review, we provide an integrative summary of the long-term neuropathological consequences of prenatal exposure to infection and/or inflammation as identified in various experimental models of prenatal immune challenge. In addition, we highlight how abnormalities in distinct brain areas and neurotransmitter systems following prenatal immune activation may provide a neural basis for the emergence of specific forms of psychosis-related behaviour. Specifically, we suggest that prenatal infection-induced imbalances in the mesolimibic and mesocortical dopamine pathways may constitute critical neural mechanisms for disturbances in sensorimotor gating, abnormalities in selective associative learning and hypersensitivity to psychostimulant drugs. On the other hand, the emergence of working memory deficiency following prenatal immune challenge may be crucially linked to the concomitant disruption of GABAergic and glutamatergic functions in prefrontal cortical and hippocampal structures. Notably, many of the identified neuronal abnormalities are directly implicated in the neuropathology of schizophrenia. The findings from prenatal infection models of schizophrenia thus provide considerable experimental evidence for the assumption that prenatal exposure to infection and/or inflammation is a relevant environmental link to specific neuronal abnormalities underlying psychosis-related behaviour in humans.

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  • Inflammation and immune signaling dysregulation can strongly influence neuropsychiatric behavior beyond ASD, with roles in bipolar disorder and PTSD, and perhaps most emphatically in schizophrenia.

    “Inflammation and immune signaling dysregulation can strongly influence neuropsychiatric behavior beyond just ASD (Haroon et al, 2012;Meyer and Feldon, 2009), with evidence pointing toward roles in bipolar disorder and PTSD (Jones and Thomsen, 2013), and perhaps most emphatically in schizophrenia (Brown et al, 2004b;Meyer and Feldon, 2009;Michel et al, 2012;Patterson, 2009).”

    From The Role of the Immune System in Autism Spectrum Disorder (2017) · cites this paper as Meyer and Feldon, 2009

  • The vast majority of studies report decreased 5-HT synthesis and neuron number with prenatal inflammation regardless of developmental timing.

    “the vast majority of studies report a decrease in 5-HT synthesis and neuron number with exposure to prenatal inflammation regardless of the developmental timing of the immune challenge (Meyer and Feldon, 2009).”

    From Neuroinflammation as a risk factor for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (2019) · cites this paper as Meyer and Feldon, 2009

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Authors
Meyer, U., & Feldon, J.
Affiliations
ETH Zurich (CH)
Corresponding author
  • Meyer, Urs
  • Feldon, Joram
ORCID
Meyer, Urs
Venue
Behavioural Brain Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2009-12-07
Volume
204
Issue
2
Pages
322-334
ISSN
0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.bbr.2008.12.022
OpenAlex
W2023145239
Cited by
158
References
199
Citations by year
2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 15
FWCI
4.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
schizophrenia, prenatal infection, maternal immune activation, sensorimotor gating, dopaminergic pathways, mesolimbic system, mesocortical pathway, associative learning, working memory, GABAergic dysfunction, glutamatergic dysfunction, prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, neuropathology, environmental risk factors
MeSH terms
Animals, Avoidance Learning, Brain, Disease Models, Animal, Dopamine, Female, gamma-Aminobutyric Acid, Neurons, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Infectious, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Serotonin, Glutamic Acid, Mice, Rats, Sensory Gating

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