Tina Notter Has Been Awarded SNSF Ambizione Grant

One distinctive feature of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is its protracted adolescent maturation. While this prolonged maturation of the PFC is thought to provide an extended period of plasticity for experience-dependent learning and acquisition of cognitive functions, it also provides a window of increased vulnerability.

The overall aim of this research project is to unravel the role of astrocytes in adolescent synaptic maturation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). We hereby assess whether aberrant prefrontal astrocyte activity could disrupt prefrontal synaptic rearrangement, resulting in miswiring of the brain and thus deficits in prefrontal-dependent cognitive and behavioral functions with relevance to major psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.