Contact Information
1201 W Gregory Drive
Rm 220A
Research Interests
Prenatal immune determinants of neurodevelopment and behavior
Research Description
Dr. Antonson uses translational animal models to investigate inflammatory and neurodevelopmental origins of behavioral abnormalities and mental health disorders. Focusing on the prenatal period as a critical developmental window, Dr. Antonson has demonstrated that maternal insults such as viral infection and psychological stress during pregnancy alter neuroimmune signatures in the offspring brain, leading to disrupted behaviors. Her central research focus is investigating exogenous and endogenous signals, deriving from prenatal maternal immune activation, that shift the function of fetal microglial cells, the resident brain macrophage, and subsequently disrupt microglial-mediated neurodevelopment. Her work also hypothesizes that downstream perturbations of the maternal microbiome propagates detrimental inflammatory signaling that contributes to disruptions in immune balance at the maternal-fetal interface.
Education
Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-2021) Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus OH
PhD (2013-2018) Immunophysiology and Behavior, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL
BS (2009-2013) Biology, Ithaca College, Ithaca NY
Additional Campus Affiliations
Microbial Systems Initiative
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Environmental Impact on Reproductive Health (EIRH) Research Theme
Interdisciplinary Environmental Toxicology Program (IETP)
External Links
Recent Publications
Otero, A. M., Connolly, M. G., Gonzalez-Ricon, R. J., Wang, S. S., Allen, J. M., & Antonson, A. M. (2025). Influenza A virus during pregnancy disrupts maternal intestinal immunity and fetal cortical development in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Molecular Psychiatry, 30(1), 13-28. Article 575197. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02648-9
Alsegehy, S., Southey, B. R., Hernandez, A. G., Rund, L. A., Antonson, A. M., Nowak, R. A., Johnson, R. W., & Rodriguez-Zas, S. L. (2024). Epigenetic disruptions in the offspring hypothalamus in response to maternal infection. Gene, 910, Article 148329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2024.148329
Rodriguez-Zas, S. L., Nowak, R. A., Antonson, A. M., Rund, L., Bhamidi, S., Gomez, A. N., Southey, B. R., & Johnson, R. W. (2024). Immune and metabolic challenges induce changes in pain sensation and related pathways in the hypothalamus. Physiological genomics, 56(4), 343-359. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiolgenomics.00134.2023
Antonson, A. M. (2023). “Prenatal programming of the brain: The maternal-fetal interface takes center stage”. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 109, 219-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2023.01.019
Rodriguez-Zas, S. L., Southey, N. L., Rund, L., Antonson, A. M., Nowak, R. A., & Johnson, R. W. (2023). Prenatal and postnatal challenges affect the hypothalamic molecular pathways that regulate hormonal levels. PloS one, 18(10), Article e0292952. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292952