Evaluation of Sensorimotor Gating Deficits in Mice Through Prepulse Inhibition (PPI) of the Startle Response.
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) – January 01, 2023
Source: PubMed
Summary
Disrupted sensory filtering, a hallmark of several psychiatric disorders, can now be studied using sophisticated behavioral tests in animal models. Scientists found that mice treated with DOI, a compound that mimics certain aspects of psychosis, showed measurable changes in their startle responses. By analyzing prepulse inhibition—how well animals filter out irrelevant sensory information—researchers gained valuable insights into brain mechanisms underlying sensory processing issues common in conditions like schizophrenia.
Abstract
Prepulse inhibition of the startle response enables measuring animal behavior and helps us understand core aspects of neuropsychiatric diseases. Prepulse inhibition is considered a translational indicator of sensorimotor gating deficits present in schizophrenia patients and is crucial in the characterization of animal models of schizophrenia-like behaviors. Hallucinogenic drugs acting through 5-HT2A receptors, such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and dimethoxyiodoamphetamine (DOI), produce symptoms in healthy subjects comparable to those seen in schizophrenia and can be used in rodent models for mimicking some of these behaviors. Here we describe a protocol for the evaluation of prepulse inhibition of the startle response in CD1-Swiss male mice after a single dose of the hallucinogenic drug DOI.