Role of Thalamic Projection in NMDA Receptor-Induced Disruption of Cortical Slow Oscillation and Short-Term Plasticity.
Frontiers in psychiatry January 1, 2011 Tamás Kiss, William E Hoffmann, Liam Scott et al.
NMDA receptor antagonists like MK-801, used to model schizophrenia symptoms, alter brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of anesthetized rats, but the primary site of action is not the cortex itself. Systemic MK-801 (0.05 mg/kg, i.v.) decreased overall multi-unit activity, had mixed effects on single-unit firing, shifted delta-frequency power in local field potentials, and disrupted paired-pulse facilitation. Local microinjection of MK-801 into the mediodorsal thalamus, but not into the mPFC, reproduced these effects, suggesting that thalamic networks, not cortical ones, mediate the drug's impact on brain circuits and cognition.