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Psychiatric disorders are known for their high disease burden, even though it is still uncertain what exactly causes these disorders. However, it is known that environmental factors such as infections can largely influence the developing brain. Previous studies have shown that maternal infections during pregnancy increase the risk of psychiatric disorders in offspring, but many specifics still remain to be unravelled. It is important to gain more knowledge about this subject in order to improve treatment and prevention of psychiatric disorders. In the current paper, the influence of polyI:C injections in pregnant rats on the development of psychiatric disorders in offspring is assessed. We compare two different stages of pregnancy; gestational day (GD) 9 - corresponding to the first trimester in humans - and GD15 - corresponding to the second trimester. The offspring is analysed based on heart rate variability (HRV) and ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) on postnatal days 7 and 14. The difference in bandwidth of USV’s, as a measure for the complexity of USV’s, showed a significant interaction between the treatment day of the pregnant rat and the sex of the offspring. Specifically, there was a difference between males and females for treatment at GD9, with a p-value of 0,004. Other than that, no significance was found in any variables in both the HRV and the USV measurements. However, non-significant correlations in mainly the USV data suggested a difference for the interaction of sex and treatment day. Possibly polyI:C at GD9 affects males more, while polyI:C at GD15 affects females more. Possibly there are differences between male and female rat pups regarding HRV and USV’s. No significance could be found in the current research to support this idea, but slight differences have been observed. Combined with previous research this does indicate that differences could be present. Further research is warranted to establish the relationship between the sex of the offspring

This study describes efforts to create a cell culture-based in vitro model of epilepsy, based on E18 rat cortex material. To study this model, two assays are used. The calcium-6 assay is used to measure network activity in vitro. Immunofluorescent staining is performed against a variety of cell types commonly found in the central nervous system and the cortex in efforts to characterize and quantify cells in culture. This report describes comparisons and choices made for cell seeding density, medium change protocols, culture plate coatings, medium choices, the effects of medium changes on network development, and long-term culture as part of optimization of the culturing conditions. Additionally, it compares epilepsy models commonly used in vitro including addition of convulsant drugs like 4-Aminopyridine as well as incubation of cells in low magnesium conditions. The final part of the report describes preliminary efforts to determine the effects of nutritional supplementation and ketosis inducing conditions in culture.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder affecting about 1% of the world’s population. However, there is still a lack of adequate treatment for BD. Mania state, the defining feature of BD, manifests insomnia, aggression, and motor hyperactivity, possibly due to dysregulation of the dopaminergic system. In BD lower dopamine transporter (DAT) expression and function are observed which leads to decreased dopamine metabolism which may cause elevated dopamine transmission during mania state. Cannabis is used in higher rates in people with BD than in the general population. THC, a psychoactive compound present in cannabis, decreases dopamine levels over time, and therefore, with the elevated dopamine levels observed in bipolar mania, may be able to treat the mania-like symptoms of BD. DAT knockdown (KD) mice reconstruct BD-related behaviors such as hyperexploratory and risky decision- making behavior in the behavioral pattern monitor (BPM) and may be useful to develop newer treatment strategies for BD mania. We investigated if hyperexploratory behavior of DAT KD mice would decrease after chronically administering THC (14 days) in the behavioral pattern monitor (BPM). 45 mice (51% DAT KD, 22% female) were intraperitoneal injected of either THC (3mg/kg) or saline for 14 consecutive days and then tested in the BPM. Another cohort of DAT KD mice in the BPM, other cohort DAT KD mice were tested in the temporal discrimination task (TDT). The TDT measures temporal perception which altered in BD and by THC. Therefore, we used the TDT to investigate the effect of THC on temporal perception of these subjects. The data we provide is data from during the training phase. 45 mice (54% DAT KD, 56% female) were trained in the TDT task, with each session duration being 30 minutes. The 19 sessions were insufficient for all mice to attain criterion in the TDT (> 85% correct), although current training revealed no sex or genotype differences in training to-date. Chronic THC