Michaela R Breach

Prenatal exposure to inflammation via maternal infection, allergy, or autoimmunity increases one's risk for developing neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Many of these disorders are associated with altered social behavior, yet...

Sex differences are prominent defining features of neurodevelopmental disorders. Understanding the sex biases in these disorders can shed light on mechanisms leading to relative risk and resilience for the disorders,...

Allergic inflammation during pregnancy increases risk for a diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the offspring. Previously, we found a...

Maternal systemic inflammation increases risk for neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, ADHD, and schizophrenia in offspring. Notably, these disorders are male-biased. Studies have implicated immune system dysfunction in the etiology of...

Chronic stress leads to sex-specific changes in the structure and function of rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Little is known about whether these effects persist following the cessation of chronic...

Adolescence is an important period for HPA axis development and synapse maturation and reorganization in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Thus, stress during adolescence could alter stress-sensitive brain regions such as...

Prolonged or repeated exposure to stress increases risk for a variety of psychological disorders, many of which are marked by dysfunction of corticolimbic brain regions. Notably, women are more likely...