Cognition and social behaviour in schizophrenia An animal model investigating the potential role of nitric oxide

................................................................................................. 3 COGNITION AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN SCHIZOPHRENIA...............................3 TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................. 7 ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................................... 9 BACKGROUND..........................................................................................10 SYMPTOMS ................................................................................................................10 Positive symptoms.........................................................................................................10 Negative symptoms .......................................................................................................11 Cognitive deficits ...........................................................................................................11 AETIOLOGY ..............................................................................................................12 Dopamine hypothesis ....................................................................................................13 Glutamate hypothesis ...................................................................................................14 Glutamate-dopamine imbalance....................................................................................16 Neurodevelopmental hypothesis .....................................................................................17 Nitric oxide and schizophrenia.....................................................................................18 Disrupted filtering mechanism in schizophrenia: A unifying theory?..............................20 LEARNING MEMORY AND SCHIZOPHRENIA .......................................................23 Division of memory.......................................................................................................23 Physiology of memory ....................................................................................................24 Glutamate and memory ................................................................................................25 Memory in schizophrenia..............................................................................................26 Social cognition.............................................................................................................26 TREATMENT .............................................................................................................27 THE PHENCYCLIDINE MODEL...............................................................................28 Phencyclidine-induced behavioural deficits: Role of nitric oxide ......................................29 Phencyclidine-induced behavioural deficits: What can we expect from animal models?....31 AIM OF THESIS........................................................................................ 32 SPECIFIC AIMS...........................................................................................................32 MATERIALS AND METHODS................................................................ 33 ANIMALS....................................................................................................................33 DRUGS .......................................................................................................................33 BEHAVIOURAL MODELS .........................................................................................34 Apparatus ...................................................................................................................34 Morris water maze .......................................................................................................34 Social interaction ..........................................................................................................35 Experimental procedure................................................................................................35 Morris water maze .......................................................................................................35 Social interaction ..........................................................................................................38 Statistics.......................................................................................................................39