Modeling psychotic disorders: Environment x environment interaction.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Genetics

Background:

• Schizophrenia is a complex psychotic disorder with a multifactorial etiology.
• Both genetic vulnerability and environmental risk factors contribute to its development.
• The interplay of multiple environmental adversities impacts neurodevelopment, potentially increasing schizophrenia risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review rodent models investigating the "two-hit" hypothesis of schizophrenia.
• To analyze models combining maternal immune activation (first hit) with other environmental exposures (second hit).
• To discuss the strengths and limitations of current animal models for studying environment x environment interactions in schizophrenia.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of rodent models.
• Focus on models simulating sequential environmental insults.
• Analysis of neurodevelopmental effects in offspring.

Main Results:

• Rodent models effectively simulate aspects of schizophrenia's multifactorial etiology.
• Combining maternal immune activation with other stressors provides insights into synergistic environmental effects.
• Current models offer valuable but imperfect representations of human schizophrenia development.

Conclusions:

• Animal models are crucial for dissecting the complex interplay of environmental factors in schizophrenia.
• Further refinement of models is needed to better replicate the nuances of human disease.
• Future research should focus on advancing these models to elucidate specific neurodevelopmental pathways.