BEHAVIORAL INVESTIGATION AND VENTRAL HIPPOCAMPUS ACTIVITY IN THE PV-CRE; ERBB4<SUP>F/F</SUP> MOUSE MODEL

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric illness that affects approximately 1% of the general population. Its negative and cognitive symptoms seem to be more persistent throughout life with a greater toll on functioning and quality of life, compared to the positive symptoms (1). Previous research has shown that multiple brain areas and cell types may be affected in schizophrenia, resulting to its observable symptoms (2). In recent years, rodent models show a characteristic disruption of the connectivity between the hippocampus and brain areas such as the prefrontal cortex, as well as early onset endophenotypes in the ventral / anterior hippocampus. Such biomarkers may mediate behavioral abnormalities of the disease, including negative and cognitive symptoms. Here, we wish to examine a genetic animal model of schizophrenia, based on mutations found in human patients to better mimic neural and behavioral features of the disease. We will use calcium imaging techniques in a battery of cognitive and emotional tests in mice to describe cell-specific abnormalities of the ventral hippocampus, related to schizophrenia, and test pharmacological treatments that may alleviate abnormal neural activity patterns and behavior.