Maternal Immune Activation and MIcroglia dysregulation

Understanding the developmental beginnings of Many Neuro-Developmental & Psychiatric Disorders

Val's Take/Conjecture

• Maternal Immune Activation and MIcroglia Dysregulation (Dysregulation of the Brain's Innate Immune Cells) are 2 important pieces to the puzzle of Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders.
• Mitochondria, Microglia, and the Immune System—How Are They Linked in Affective Disorders? (2019)
• Dysfunctional Mitochondria is a hallmark of aging.

​WHAT'S THE POINT?

• These paradigms and understandings don't look like the DSM.
• Now, there appear to be plans to get the DSM 6 on a more biologically sound footing.
• There are many legal and policy ramifications of these new understandings--- we need a concerted effort to address them.

The roles of immune factors in neurodevelopment (2025)

​A microglia-containing cerebral organoid model to study early life immune challenges (2025)

​Prenatal Immune Stress: Its Impact on Brain Development and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (2025)

​"Many epidemiological studies have indicated that prenatal immune stress, frequently elicited by maternal immune activation, underlies a major risk for neuropsychiatric disorders of neurodevelopmental origin, such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders."