Grant: Project Grant

A series of discoveries spanning the last decade has shifted our view of microglia, the brain's immune cells, by showing their essential but previously unexpected contribution to brain development, as well as their important functions in learning and memory, and in behavioural adaptation to various environmental challenges (pollution, stress, inadequate nutrition, viral infection, etc.) during life. In this emergent field of investigation, which is currently experiencing exponential growth, our research project aims to investigate the roles of "dark microglia", a particular microglial subtype that we have discovered, and which may be specifically involved in proper neurodevelopment via remodelling of brain blood vessels (vasculature) and synapses, the connections between neurons. We will study these roles of dark microglia during normal development and in the context of maternal immune activation, a process associated with the onset of various neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric diseases in human patients. We will focus our investigation on studying the long-term consequences of inadequate maternal nutrition (Western diet) and maternal viral infection-induced immune activation throughout development into adulthood. Targeted interventions will be performed. This research into dark microglia's involvement in vascular and synaptic remodelling during normal development and upon maternal immune activation, an important environmental risk factor for human diseases, will bridge metabolism and immunity for the future prevention and/or treatment of several neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.