Study of the meso-cortico-limbic connectivity in animals submitted to early-life Status epilepticus and its relationship with psychiatric comorbidities

• Grant number: 18/02303-4
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: João Pereira Leite
• Grantee: Rafael Naime Ruggiero
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/17882-4 - Drug-resistant epilepsies: diagnostic challenges, associated comorbidities and new experimental approaches, AP.TEM

Abstract

Rats submitted to Status epilepticus (SE) during development present behavioral changes typical of animal models of psychosis, which correlate with changes in synaptic plasticity between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex (CPF). Our hypothesis is that SE affects the connectivity of meso-cortico-limbic circuits, which may underlie psychiatric comorbidities observed in epilepsy. Our aim is to investigate how the induction of SE during development affects the communication between the hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex and the ventral tegmental area during the performance of behavioral tests related to psychosis and depression. These findings will be related to cognitive impairments and markers of epileptogenesis, such as interictal activity and the presence of spontaneous seizures. For this purpose, we will use electrophysiology and optogenetic stimulation techniques, allowing a better understanding of the relationship between epiletogenesis and cognitive impairment, as well as the association of psychiatric comorbidities with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LOPES-AGUIAR, CLEITON; RUGGIERO, RAFAEL N.; ROSSIGNOLI, MATHEUS T.; ESTEVES, INGRID DE MIRANDA; PEIXOTO-SANTOS, JOSE EDUARDO; ROMCY-PEREIRA, RODRIGO N.; LEITE, JOAO P. Long-term potentiation prevents ketamine-induced aberrant neurophysiological dynamics in the hippocampus-prefrontal cortex pathway in vivo. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 10, n. 1 APR 28 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.