Project Summary

Mayank Mehta, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of Brown University, aims to study how NMDA-antagonists interfere with synaptic plasticity and learning in the hippocampus and induce symptoms of schizophrenia. To gain such an understanding, Dr. Mehta will use computational models of NMDA antagonists on hippocampal activity. Dr. Mehta will then test the predictions of the computational model experimentally, by monitoring the activity patterns of ensembles of neurons from the hippocampus in behaving rats. Dr. Mehta will measure the dose-dependent effect of NMDA antagonists on the hippocampal neurons and the rat's behavior to test the computational models and decipher the neuronal mechanisms by which the NMDA receptors contribute to spatial learning and schizophrenia.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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