Disruption of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) signalling in the prefrontal cortex has been suggested to underlie cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. In this study, mice expressing a variant of human nAChR subunit α5 implicated in schizophrenia showed impaired sociability and sensorimotor gating. Two-photon calcium imaging revealed that these mice have lower pyramidal neuron activity in layers 2/3 of the prelimbic cortex, and this activity was normalized by chronic nicotine infusion, suggesting nicotine could have potential in treating cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.
References
Koukouli, F. et al. Nicotine reverses hypofrontality in animal models of addiction and schizophrenia. Nat. Med. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm.4274 (2017)
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Bray, N. Down in front. Nat Rev Neurosci 18, 129 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.16