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
Session 1: Molecular Mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Chair: Gisela Sugranyes (IDIBAPS, Barcelona)
9:40 - 10:20 Josep Dalmau (IDIBAPS/Caixa Research Institute, Barcelona)
10:20 - 11:00 Ines Khadimallah (Lausanne University Hospital)
11:00 - 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 - 12:10 Gemma Modinos (Kings College, London).
12:10 - 12:50 Guillermo Horga (Columbia University, New York)
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)
14:30 - 15:10 Estíbaliz Maudes (University Medical Center Göttingen)
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)
16:30-17:00 Coffee break
17:00 - 17:40 Katharina Schmack (Crick Institute, London)
17:40 - 18:20 Patricia Gassó (Univ of Barcelona/IDIBAPS)
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)
10:10 -10:50 Tíffany Oña-Jodar (Allen Institute, Seattle)
10:50 - 11:20 Coffee break (posters)
11:20 - 12:00 Albert Compte (IDIBAPS, Barcelona)
12:00 - 12:40 John Murray (Dartmouth College, Hanover)
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