NMDA receptor antagonists distort visual grouping in rats performing a modified two-choice visual discrimination task.
Psychopharmacology October 1, 2013 Katja Clarissa Ward, Halima Zainab Khattak, Louise Richardson et al.
Low doses of the NMDA receptor antagonists ketamine and phencyclidine impair visual grouping in rats, requiring higher signal quality to discriminate patterns, without affecting discrimination of undistorted images. Higher doses impair task performance even with clear images, linked to stereotypic behavior and impulsivity. A new rodent task using Glass patterns differentiates perceptual effects from motor or memory effects, enabling quantification of cognitive psychosis that translates to human psychometric functions.