University Honors

The N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) hypofunction hypothesis has been proposed to helpunderstand the etiology and pathophysiology of schizophrenia. In particular, it has beendemonstrated that MK-801, a highly potent and selective NMDA antagonist, induces spatialmemory and learning impairments in rodents similar to cognitive deficits observed in patients withschizophrenia. Additionally, it has been shown that MK-801 leads to decreased blood perfusion inbrain regions associated with the memory and learning network (i.e., the septohippocampalnetwork). However, there is still a lack of functional connectivity analysis for the impact of MK801on the septohippocampal network related to learning and memory. Here we conduct a functionalconnectivity analysis for MK801 effect on the septohippocampal networks using functionalUltrasound Imaging (fUSI) between two groups of mice injected with saline (control) and MK-801. Additionally, we demonstrate the importance of prewhitening fUSI extracted data to eliminateautocorrelation. Results show that prewhitening the data reveals that functional connectivity ofcertain regions significantly decreases overtime due to the MK-801 effect.