Influences of genetic and environmental factors on schizophrenia

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Genetic susceptibility factors for adult psychiatric illnesses such as DISC1 influence adult high brain functions. Here we report the potential to generate an animal model via in utero gene transfer to address how nonlethal deficits in early development may affect postnatal brain maturation and high brain functions in adulthood, which are impaired in various psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia. We show that transient knockdown of DISC1 in the pre- and perinatal stages, specifically in the prefrontal cortex, leads to selective abnormalities in postnatal mesocortical dopaminergic maturation and behavioral abnormalities after puberty.