Effects of Amphetamine and Nicotine on Auditory Gating: An Animal Model of Schizophrenia
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder occurring in 1% of the population
Many symptoms may arise due to deficient sensory gating in the brain
Chronic nicotine abuse may be therapeutic to patients
Sensory gating can be quantified by recording an auditory-evoked potential, the
P50 response, using cortical EEG in the hippocampus
The N40 auditory-evoked potential found in the rat can be manipulated with
amphetamine injection to resemble the P50 response in humans