Isolation rearing of rats produces a deficit in prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle similar to that in schizophrenia

Geyer, Mark A., Wilkinson, Lawrence Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9337-6124, Humby, Trevor and Robbins, Trevor W. 1993. Isolation rearing of rats produces a deficit in prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle similar to that in schizophrenia. Biological psychiatry 34 (6) , pp. 361-372. 10.1016/0006-3223(93)90180-L

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Abstract

Schizophrenic patients exhibit deficits in the prepulse inhibition of startle, an operational measure of the sensorimotor gating deficits that are theorized to contribute to cognitive disorganization. In rats, the activation of mesolimbic dopamine (DA) disrupts prepulse inhibition, providing a useful model of the similar deficits in sensorimotor gating in schizophrenic patients. Rats reared in isolation exhibit neurochemical and behavioral abnormalities suggestive of hyperactivity in mesolimbic DA systems. In the present studies, rats reared in social groups or in isolation were tested in startle response paradigms using 120 or 105 dB acoustic pulses, some of which were preceded (100 msec) by prepulses that were 2, 4, 8, or 16 dB above the 65 dB background. Isolation-reared animals were hyperreactive only in response to the initial few startle stimuli. The amount of prepulse inhibition was decreased significantly in isolation-reared animals, particularly when midrange 8 dB prepulses were used. A subsequent study replicated the effect of isolation rearing on prepulse inhibition and suggested that the deficit in sensorimotor gating exhibited by isolation-reared animals may be normalized by the administration of the DA antagonist raclopride (0.05 mg/kg). Hence, isolation rearing provides a nonpharmacological way to induce in rats a deficit in sensorimotor gating that is exhibited by schizophrenic patients.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG) Medicine Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI) Psychology
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Prepulse inhibition; startle; dopamine; isolation rearing; schizophrenia; sensorimotor gating; raclopride
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0006-3223
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2022 10:36
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/85441

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