Analysis of cognitive and sensory functions in a complex schizophrenia model

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Analysis of cognitive and sensory functions in a complex schizophrenia model Gábor Tuboly1*, Gábor Ádám2, Gabriella Kékesi2, György Benedek2 and Gyöngyi Horváth2 1 University of Szeged, Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Hungary 2 University of Szeged, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hungary Clinical studies have proved that schizophrenia is often accompanied by abnormal sensory and cognitive functions. Several animal models have been introduced to study the pathophysiology of this disease, but only a few of them examined the phenomenon of hypoalgesia together with specific tests of schizophrenia. We induced schizophrenia-related alterations by subchronic ketamine treatment and post-weaning social isolation in rats to examine their long-lasting effects on different nociceptive responses and cognitive functions. Male Wistar rats (day 21-23 of age) were either housed individually and were treated with ketamine (30 mg/kg intraperitoneally) for 2*5 days (at the first two week) or grouped (4-5 animals/cage) for 28 days and treated with saline. Thermal pain threshold was determined by tail-flick test (48 °C) at the end of isolation period and 1 week later (age of 7 and 8 weeks), while chemo-nociception was investigated by capsaicin eyedrops (at age of 10 weeks). The affective component of mechanical stimuli was evaluated by escape-avoidance test (at the age of 9 weeks). The cognitive capacity of the animals was investigated by novel-object recognition test (at age of 12 weeks). As regards tail-flick latencies at 48 °C, treated animals demonstrated significantly decreased thermal pain sensitivity. The capsaicin test showed that the chemo-nociceptive response was also attenuated. The mechanical stimuli did not change the preference of light chamber in either group. The novel object recognition test revealed that control animals spent significantly more time with the novel object compared to the sample one. In summary, our model simulates the heat and chemical hypoalgesia and cognitive disturbance observed in schizophrenia, suggesting that this paradigm might produce an appropriate animal model of schizophrenia for a long period. This work was supported by grants of TÁMOP 4.2.2.-08/01-2008-0002 and a Hungarian Research Grant (OTKA, K60278). Conference: IBRO International Workshop 2010, Pécs, Hungary, 21 Jan - 23 Jan, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Sensory and motor systems Citation: Tuboly G, Ádám G, Kékesi G, Benedek G and Horváth G (2010). Analysis of cognitive and sensory functions in a complex schizophrenia model. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: IBRO International Workshop 2010. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.10.00270 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 06 May 2010; Published Online: 06 May 2010. * Correspondence: Gábor Tuboly, University of Szeged, Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Szeged, Hungary, tuboly@phys.szote.u-szeged.hu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Gábor Tuboly Gábor Ádám Gabriella Kékesi György Benedek Gyöngyi Horváth Google Gábor Tuboly Gábor Ádám Gabriella Kékesi György Benedek Gyöngyi Horváth Google Scholar Gábor Tuboly Gábor Ádám Gabriella Kékesi György Benedek Gyöngyi Horváth PubMed Gábor Tuboly Gábor Ádám Gabriella Kékesi György Benedek Gyöngyi Horváth Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.