title: Neuronal and brain morphological changes in animal models of schizophrenia.
abstract: Schizophrenia, a severe and debilitating disorder with a high social burden, affects 1% of the adult world population. Available therapies are unable to treat all the symptoms, and result in strong side effects. For this reason, numerous animal models have been generated to elucidate the pathophysiology of this disorder. All these models present neuronal remodeling and abnormalities in spine stability. It is well known that the complexity in dendritic arborization determines the number of receptive synaptic contacts. Also the loss of dendritic spines and arbor stability are strongly associated with schizophrenia. This review evaluates changes in spine density and dendritic arborization in animal models of schizophrenia. By understanding these changes, pharmacological treatments can be designed to target specific neural systems to attenuate neuronal remodeling and associated behavioral deficits.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Neuropsiquiatría, Instituto de Fisiología, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. 14 Sur 6301, Puebla, 72570, Mexico. Electronic address: gonzalo.flores@correo.buap.mx.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Animal, CINVESTAV-IPN,-Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, AP 62, 90000, Mexico.
authors.forename: Julio César
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Morales-Medina
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. Puebla, 72570, Mexico.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diaz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000494:pharmacology; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants
keywords: Animal model; Hippocampus; Morphology; Neurodevelopment; Prefrontal cortex; Schizoprenia