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01-12-2016 | Original Article

Altered resonance properties of somatosensory responses in mice deficient for the schizophrenia risk gene Neuregulin 1

Authors: Claudia S. Barz, Thomas Bessaih, Ted Abel, Dirk Feldmeyer, Diego Contreras

Published in: Brain Structure and Function | Issue 9/2016

Abstract

To reveal the neuronal underpinnings of sensory processing deficits in patients with schizophrenia, previous studies have investigated brain activity in response to sustained sensory stimulation at various frequencies. This paradigm evoked neural activity at the stimulation frequency and harmonics thereof. During visual and auditory stimulation that elicited enhanced or ‘resonant’ responses in healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia displayed reduced activity. The present study sought to elucidate the cellular basis of disease-related deficits in sensory resonance properties using mice heterozygous for the schizophrenia susceptibility gene Neuregulin 1 (NRG1). We applied repetitive whisker stimulation at 1–15 Hz, a range relevant to whisking behavior in mice, and measured cellular activity in the primary somatosensory cortex. At frequencies where control mice displayed enhancements in measures of response magnitude and precision, NRG1 (+/−) mutants showed reductions. Our results demonstrate for the first time a link between a mutation of a schizophrenia risk gene and altered neuronal resonance properties in sensory cortex.

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Title: Altered resonance properties of somatosensory responses in mice deficient for the schizophrenia risk gene Neuregulin 1
Authors: Claudia S. Barz
Thomas Bessaih
Ted Abel
Dirk Feldmeyer
Diego Contreras
Publication date: 01-12-2016
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Brain Structure and Function / Issue 9/2016
Print ISSN: 1863-2653
Electronic ISSN: 1863-2661
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-015-1169-6

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Altered resonance properties of somatosensory responses in mice deficient for the schizophrenia risk gene Neuregulin 1

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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