Animal models of prenatal viral infection mimic the molecular events and the neurological outcomes consequent to the inflammatory cascades originating from gestational period infections. Maternal immune activation (MIA) models and, specifically, models of prenatal viral infections are recognized as non-genetic models of liability for neurodevelopmental diseases like autism spectrum disorders (ASD), schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in the progeny. Such models serve a dual purpose, allowing the analyses of the resulting pathological conditions and the study of their molecular underpinning mechanisms. These models are extremely complex: timing, types of used agonists, dosage, manipulation techniques, mating setup, cage type, expected temperature and weight variations, food type and microbiota features, age, sex, and strain of the animals are all fundamental elements that must be considered to produce a reliable and robust model. This is a timely JoVE methods collection. Recently, the COVID-19 global pandemic added to the usual burden of intragravidic infections, and, in the immediate future, we might see the results of such a widespread viral outbreak on brain developmental trajectories of newborns from infected women. This methods collection aims to embody standardized protocols in the field, and so, to enhance reproducibility, data sharing and ultimately the potential translation of prenatal viral infection models findings on humans.