Jaakko Paasonen1, Raimo A Salo1, Jouni Ihalainen2, Juuso Leikas2, Katja Savolainen2, Markus M Forsberg2, and Olli Gröhn1
1Department of Neurobiology, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland, 2School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
Schizophrenia is a disorder that lack
effective medication. In order to improve treatments, better disease models are
required. Here, phencyclidine (PCP)-induced schizophrenic symptoms were
investigated in rats with fMRI. Results were compared with microdialysis measurements
and behavioral tests. At PCP doses ≥ 3 mg/kg, characteristics for psychotic symptoms
were detected in functional connectivity (FC), having good correspondence with locomotor
and dopamine activity. With PCP doses ≤ 2 mg/kg, markers for psychotic symptoms
were absent. The FC of mesolimbic pathway was still affected, and social and
cognitive deficits were confirmed in behavioral tests. Thus, PCP ≤ 2 mg/kg induces
specifically the social and cognitive schizophrenic deficits.
