Postnatal functional inactivation of the ventral subiculum enhances dopaminergic responses in the core part of the nucleus accumbens following ketamine injection in adult rats
arXiv Preprint Archive November 22, 2020 Hana Saoud, Duco De Beus, Severine Eybrard et al.
Schizophrenia is considered a functional disconnection disorder with a possible neurodevelopmental origin, and the ventral subiculum (SUB) may be a key region affected. This study in adult rats examined how postnatal inactivation of the left SUB at day 8 alters dopamine responses to the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine in the nucleus accumbens core. Ketamine produced larger increases in dopamine levels and locomotor activity in rats with inactivated SUB compared to controls. These results suggest that early disruption of the SUB enhances sensitivity to NMDA receptor blockade, providing insight into glutamatergic mechanisms in schizophrenia.