Psychopharmacology of prepulse inhibition in mice.
The attenuation of the startle response termed "prepulse inhibition" (PPI) occurs when an abrupt startling stimulus is preceded 30-500 msec by a barely detectable prestimulus or "prepulse". PPI provides a measure of sensorimotor gating, which is a short time-constant central processing mechanism that is disrupted in patients with schizophrenia, and a number of other neuropsychiatric disorders. The present experiments examined normal PPI in the mouse, and assessed the effects of apomorphine, d-amphetamine, PCP, and MDMA on mouse PPI. As predicted, mice demonstrated robust and reliable PPI, and each compound tested disrupted PPI. As with rats, 2.0 mg/kg apomorphine, 10.0 mg/kg PCP, and 10.0 mg/kg MDMA disrupted PPI significantly, while 5.0 mg/kg d-amphetamine produced a large reduction of PPI that approached significance. Our findings suggest that the mouse may provide another model system for the study of sensorimotor gating mechanisms.
Dulawa
S C
SC
Department of Neuroscience, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0804, USA.
Geyer
M A
MA
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003913:Dextroamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D010622:Phencyclidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000187:drug effects*
D010622:Phencyclidine; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine; D001058:Apomorphine; D003913:Dextroamphetamine