Volume 36 Issue 10, September 2011
An electron micrograph of the rat prefrontal cortex, with asymmetric (excitatory) synapses (orange) identified between dendritic spines (blue) and boutons by their characteristically electron dense postsynaptic zone. Following treatment with phencyclidine, there is a persistent decrease in number of asymmetric synapses and dopamine tone in prefrontal cortex, changes that are hypothesized to underlie the cognitive deficit in this animal model of schizophrenia. This spine synapse loss in prefrontal cortex is reversed by acute treatment with the atypical antipsychotic drug, olanzapine, and this reversal is maintained by chronic oral treatment, paralleling the time course of the restoration of the dopamine deficit, and normalization of cognitive function produced by olanzapine. Courtesy of Drs. John Elsworth, Tibor Hajszan, Csaba Leranth and Robert Roth, Yale University, USA.
