Lesions of the rat piriform cortex prevent long-lasting sensorimotor gating deficits induced by stimulation of the ventral hippocampus.
Prepulse inhibition (PPI) is a cross-species operational measure of sensorimotor gating. Reduced PPI is found in schizophrenics and can be induced experimentally in rats. Stimulation of the rat ventral hippocampus (VH) with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) results in long-lasting PPI deficits (carry-over effect). Since we have previously shown that this carry-over effect was accompanied by increased expression of c-Fos in the piriform cortex (PIR), we here tested the effects of lesions of the PIR on PPI after stimulation of the VH. PIR lesioned rats still showed disruption of PPI after injection of NMDA into the VH. However, the carry-over effect observed in controls was prevented by PIR lesions. These data suggest that the PIR is important for long-lasting alterations in brain functioning leading to impaired sensorimotor gating.
Koch
M
M
Tierphysiologie, Universität Tübingen, Germany. michael.koch@uni-tuebingen.de
Klarner
A
A
Schnitzler
H U
HU
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D016202:N-Methylaspartate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
D016202:N-Methylaspartate