Corticolimbic dopamine neurotransmission is temporally dissociated from the cognitive and locomotor effects of phencyclidine.

PCP and its analog ketamine produce a behavioral syndrome that models some aspects of schizophrenia. Previously, the psychotomimetic and cognitive-impairing effects were attributed mainly to the corticolimbic dopamine system. This study measured dopamine and glutamate efflux in the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of rodents after PCP injection, using microdialysis. PCP increased both dopamine and glutamate levels. Dopamine remained elevated above baseline 2.5 hours after injection, yet locomotor activity returned to baseline in less than 2 hours, and working memory impairment (measured by a delayed alternation task) was only evident up to 60 minutes after injection.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The behavioral syndrome produced by phencyclidine (PCP) and its analog ketamine represents a pharmacological model for some aspects of schizophrenia. Despite the multifaceted properties of these drugs, the main mechanism for their psychotomimetic and cognitive-impairing effects has been thought heretofore to involve the corticolimbic dopamine system. The present study examined the temporal relationship between alterations in corticolimbic dopamine and glutamate neurotransmission and two dopamine-dependent behavioral effects of PCP in the rodent that have relevance to the clinical phenomenology, namely, impairment of working memory, which is used to model the frontal lobe deficits associated with schizophrenia, and hyperlocomotion, which is used as a predictor of the propensity of a drug to elicit or exacerbate psychosis. PCP increased dopamine and glutamate efflux in the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, as measured by microdialysis. The increase in dopamine in both regions remained elevated well above baseline 2.5 hr after the injection, at which time the experiment was terminated. However, locomotor activity returned to baseline in <2 hr after injection. Furthermore, impaired performance in a discrete trial delayed alternation task, a rodent working memory task, was only evident up to 60 min after PCP injection; animals tested 80 min after injection, when cortical dopamine release was elevated at 300% of baseline, did not exhibit impaired performance. These findings indicate that activation of dopamine neurotransmission is not sufficient to sustain PCP-induced locomotion and impairment of working memory. Thus, effects of PCP, including a glutamatergic hyperstimulation, may be necessary to account for the psychotomimetic and cognitive-impairing effects of this drug.