Menna main research interest is to investigate the molecular mechanisms at the basis of synapse dysfunctions in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric diseases and in particular to elucidate the role of the innate immune molecule PTX3 and of its interactor thrombospondin 1 in the synapse assembly and function during brain development. We are examining how an inflammatory insult occurring in prenatal or perinatal period affects the formation and the activity of the PTX3/thrombospondin 1 complex and the possible consequences on synapse development and brain circuits formation.