Campus Clinic Symposium
NMDAR Hypofunction at the Crossroads of Psychosis and Cognition: Insights from Schizophrenia and Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis
December 9-10th. Centre Esther Koplowitz, IDIBAPS.
Symposium Speakers
Organizers
Maria Rodés, IDIBAPS
Gisela Sugranyes IDIBAPS, Hospital Clinic, CIBERSAM
Jaime de la Rocha, IDIBAPS
Albert Compte, IDIBAPS
Josep Dalmau IDIBAPS, Caixa Research Institute, CIBERER
on behalf of the intramural IDIBAPS Multidisciplinary program Synaptic Autoimmunity in Neurology, Psychiatry and Cognitive Neuroscience.
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder with elusive biological underpinnings. Among competing theories, the glutamatergic hypothesis—which posits a hypofunction of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs)—has gained substantial empirical support. In parallel, anti-NMDAR encephalitis, an autoimmune disease in which antibodies target and disrupt NMDARs, offers a distinct yet mechanistically convergent perspective on NMDAR dysfunction in the human brain.
This workshop brings together experts from molecular psychiatry, immunology, and cognitive neuroscience to explore the role of NMDARs in both pathophysiology and cognition, through the lens of these two conditions. The first part of the workshop will focus on the molecular and cellular mechanisms that implicate NMDAR hypofunction in schizophrenia, including evidence from genetic, pharmacological, and post-mortem studies. The discussion will then pivot to anti-NMDAR encephalitis, highlighting its clinical features, immunological basis, and the insights it offers into receptor-level disruptions.
Despite vastly different etiologies, both disorders manifest overlapping symptoms, such as psychosis and severe cognitive impairments, raising compelling questions about shared circuit-level vulnerabilities. Building on this comparison, the final segment of the workshop will examine the role of NMDARs in working memory—a basic cognitive function similarly disrupted in both conditions. By using these two clinical syndromes as naturalistic "models" of NMDAR disruption, we aim to shed light on whether NMDARs are not only necessary but also fundamentally involved in sustaining working memory processes. This session will integrate findings from human experiments, computational modeling, and animal studies to propose a mechanistic framework linking receptor-level dysfunction to cognitive deficits.
By weaving together insights from psychiatry, neurology, and systems neuroscience, this workshop aims to advance our understanding of NMDAR function in health and disease, and to stimulate interdisciplinary discussion on how converging biological mechanisms can inform future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Program
DAY 1 Tuesday December 9th
9:00 - 9:20 Registration
9:·20- 9:40 Welcome. Josefina Castro (Hospital Clinic/IDIBAPS). Jordi Alberch (Univ. Barcelona/IDIBAPS). Susana Puig (Hospital Clinic/IDIBAPS)
Session 1: Molecular Mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Chair: Gisela Sugranyes (IDIBAPS/CIBERSAM)
9:40 - 10:20 Josep Dalmau (IDIBAPS/CIBERER/Caixa Research Institute, Barcelona) Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis: From One Patient to a New Disease, and the Birth of a Field
10:20 - 11:00 Ines Khadimallah (Lausanne University Hospital). NMDAR Co-Agonist Pathways in Treatment-Resistant First-Episode Psychosis
11:00 - 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 - 12:10 Gemma Modinos (Kings College, London). Role of excitation/inhibition imbalance in high-risk and early psychosis.
12:10 - 12:50 Guillermo Horga (Columbia University, New York) Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI as a marker of dopaminergic dysfunction in psychotic disorders
13:00 - 14:30 Lunch with Posters (CEK)
Session 2: Preclinical research of NMDA-related neuropathologies: comparing animal models across the NMDA-disease spectrum.
Chair: Eduard Parellada (H. Clinic/Univ. de Barcelona/IDIBAPS/CIBERSAM)
14:30 - 15:10 Estíbaliz Maudes (University Medical Center Göttingen) Modelling anti-NMDAR encephalitis, from passive transfer to active immunization models
15:10 - 15:50 Christian Geis (Jena Univ. Hospital). NMDA receptor encephalitis: from molecules to network.
15:50 - 16:30 Ji Hu (ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai) Anti-NMDAR Autoantibodies: Circuit Mechanisms of Pathology and Therapeutic Applications
16:30-17:00 Coffee break
17:00 - 17:40 Katharina Schmack (Crick Institute, London). Hallucinating mice, ketamine and anti-NMDAR autoimmunity – towards mechanistic treatments for psychosis
17:40 - 18:20 Patricia Gassó (Univ of Barcelona/IDIBAPS/CIBERSAM). A postnatal ketamine mouse model to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms and new therapeutic targets of schizophrenia
18:20 - 19:30 Posters with Wine and cheese (CEK)
DAY 2 Wednesday December 10th
Session 3: The role of NMDAR in Working Memory: a comparison across models and diseases.
Chair: Carles Sindreu (CIBERER/IDIBAPS, Barcelona).
9:30 - 10:10 Min Wang (Yale School of Medicine, New Haven), NMDAR are critical for dorsolateral prefrontal cortical neurons mediating working memory in macaque
10:10 -10:50 Tíffany Oña-Jodar (Allen Institute, Seattle), NMDA Receptor blockade increases repeating lapses but not working memory stability
10:50 - 11:20 Coffee break (posters)
11:20 - 12:00 Albert Compte (IDIBAPS, Barcelona), Mechanisms of reduced serial dependence in working memory in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis and schizophrenia
12:00 - 12:40 John Murray (Dartmouth College, Hanover), Modeling the effects of ketamine on working memory in humans
12:40 - 13:30 Final Discussion (Moderator: Jaime de la Rocha, IDIBAPS, Barcelona)
Venue:
Auditori Esteve (Planta altell)
Centre Esther Koplowitz.
c. Rosselló 149-153
Barcelona, 08036.
Contact information: for any questions or queries regarding the symposium, please email us at neuroinmunologialab@gmail.com
With the support of:
