Sensory Gating in TAAR1 Knockout Mice

Abstract

Trace amines (TA) are a family of endogenous compounds structurallysimilar to classical biogenic amines that may be involved in thepathogenesis of a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. One of themost studied and perspective member of the TA associated receptors (TAARs)family is the TAAR1. The aim of the present study was to investigatethe sensory gating (SG) in freely moving TAAR1 knockout mice ina chronic experiment. The study of SG was conducted in the paired-clickparadigm. The SG indices were calculated as an absolute value by subtractingthe second stimulus response amplitude from the first stimulus responseamplitude (S1–S2) and as a relative value calculated by dividingthe S2 amplitude by the response amplitude on S1 (S2/S1). As a result,a significant decrease in the amplitude of the N40 component wasfound in TAAR1 knockout mice compared to wild-type mice. In addition,the absolute value of sensory gating calculated by the S1–S2 methodwas also reduced, but the relative value of sensory gating denotedas S1/S2 ratio remained unchanged. Thus, the data obtained indicatethe involvement of TAAR1 in the generation of auditory evoked potentialsand the potential involvement of the trace amine system in the dosingand filtering of sensory information.