OxTalks is Changing
OxTalks will soon move to the new Halo platform and will become 'Oxford Events.' There will be a need for an OxTalks freeze. This was previously planned for Friday 14th November – a new date will be shared as soon as it is available (full details will be available on the Staff Gateway).
In the meantime, the OxTalks site will remain active and events will continue to be published.
If staff have any questions about the Oxford Events launch, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
Hallucinating mice, neural circuits and immunity – towards mechanistic treatments for psychosis
Psychosis is a core feature of severe mental illness, yet its biological basis remains poorly understood. This talk presents a cross-species research programme combining behavioural paradigms, computational modelling, circuit neuroscience and immunology to identify mechanistic treatment targets. We developed a paradigm to measure hallucination-like perception in both humans and mice, revealing key roles for dopamine and acetylcholine. We also established a novel mouse model of autoimmune psychosis, showing how brain-reactive antibodies can disrupt circuits and behaviour and how antipsychotic drugs modulate autoimmune processes. Ongoing work in humans and mice investigates how neural and immune mechanisms interact to drive psychosis and shape perception.
Date:
28 January 2026, 15:00
Venue:
BNDU Mansfield Road, Pharmacology Lecture Theatre
Speaker:
Dr Katharina Schmack (Francis Crick Institute and University College London)
Organising department:
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences
Organiser:
Dr Helen Barron (University of Oxford )
Organiser contact email address:
chiara.toschi@bndu.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Dr Helen Barron (University of Oxford )
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editors:
Chiara Toschi,
Nima Mirkhani
