A seminar hosted by the Bristol Neuroscience Research Network
Schmack lab: Neural Circuits and Immunity in Psychosis Laboratory
We study the biological mechanisms underlying psychosis. Our goal is to find new ways to treat brain disorders such as schizophrenia.
Illustration with a human head and a mouse head with the words 'Psychosis Collective' above.
Psychosis is characterised by disturbances of perception and thought. These are subjective phenomena and have traditionally been difficult to study biologically. Our recent work has established a new approach that combines behavioural observations and computational models to measure psychosis-like phenomena in humans and mice.
We use this cross-species approach to study how neural and immune processes give rise to psychosis. In particular, we focus on neural signalling in the striatum, a brain region that is involved in psychosis, but its role in perception and thought is not well-understood. We also study the contributions of immune signals in the blood and brain-surrounding fluid, as these could explain how known genetic and environmental risk factors lead to psychosis.
By studying psychosis, we hope to identify new biological targets for the treatment of schizophrenia, and to understand how the brain generates perceptions and thoughts.
1:1s with the speaker are now fully booked.
SM1 is in the Engineering Mathematics building on University Walk, opposite the Biomedical Sciences Building. On entering through the main doors, follow the stairs up to the seating area on the 1st floor. Go through the double doors on the right-hand side and SM1 is located on the left-hand side of the corridor.