title: Sensory encoding in Neuregulin 1 mutants.
abstract: Schizophrenic patients show altered sensory perception as well as changes in electrical and magnetic brain responses to sustained, frequency-modulated sensory stimulation. Both the amplitude and temporal precision of the neural responses differ in patients as compared to control subjects, and these changes are most pronounced for stimulation at gamma frequencies (20-40 Hz). In addition, patients display enhanced spontaneous gamma oscillations, which has been interpreted as 'neural noise' that may interfere with normal stimulus processing. To investigate electrophysiological markers of aberrant sensory processing in a model of schizophrenia, we recorded neuronal activity in primary somatosensory cortex of mice heterozygous for the schizophrenia susceptibility gene Neuregulin 1. Sensory responses to sustained 20-70 Hz whisker stimulation were analyzed with respect to firing rates, spike precision (phase locking) and gamma oscillations, and compared to baseline conditions. The mutants displayed elevated spontaneous firing rates, a reduced gain in sensory-evoked spiking and gamma activity, and reduced spike precision of 20-40 Hz responses. These findings present the first in vivo evidence of the linkage between a genetic marker and altered stimulus encoding, thus suggesting a novel electrophysiological endophenotype of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. c.barz@fz-juelich.de.|Department of Neuropathology, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. c.barz@fz-juelich.de.|Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. c.barz@fz-juelich.de.|IZKF Aachen, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. c.barz@fz-juelich.de.
authors.forename: Claudia S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Barz
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UM 119, Neuroscience Paris Seine (NPS), Paris, 75005, France.|CNRS, UMR 8246, NPS, Paris, 75005, France.|INSERM, U1130, NPS, Paris, 75005, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bessaih
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.|Smilow Center for Translational Research, Philadelphia, USA.
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.|Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) - Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feldmeyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Contreras
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D020890:Neuregulin-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D020890:Neuregulin-1
keywords: Endophenotypes; Gamma oscillations; Neuregulin 1; Schizophrenia; Signal-to-noise ratio; Somatosensory cortex