Assessments of cognition in rodent models of environmental challenge during pregnancy.

The University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Adverse environmental events during pregnancy increase of the risk of developmental challenges in the offspring, including the incidence of psychiatric disorders. Recent work in Dr. Howland’s laboratory has examined the effects of maternal immune activation or Cannabis
smoke exposure during pregnancy on cognition in the offspring of rats. This talk will review some of these findings, and relate them to opportunities and challenges in using touchscreen-based tasks for research in this area.