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