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UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF OXYTOCIN IN SENSORIMOTOR GATING DEFICITS

Dike, Obianuju E.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1259437967

Abstract Details

2009, MS, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / School of Biomedical Sciences.
Oxytocin (Oxt) is a nonapeptide synthesized in the magnocellular neurons of the paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei of the hypothalamus and it is released to the periphery from axon terminals. Numerous studies indicate that Oxt plays an important role in cognition and social behavior. Abnormalities in the Oxt system have also been implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette’s syndrome. Patients diagnosed with these disorders show deficits in a fundamental form of information filtering known as sensorimotor gating. Sensorimotor gating can be measured across species using prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex. PPI can be disrupted by treating animals with dopamine receptor agonists (e.g. apomorphine and amphetamine) and NMDA receptor antagonists (e.g. phencyclidine (PCP) and MK-801). Previous studies suggest that Oxt may act as a natural antipsychotic and our lab has shown that Oxt knockout mice (Oxt-/-) are more susceptible to the psychosis-related effects of PCP. So, to further characterize the role of the Oxt system in sensorimotor gating deficits, a rescue experiment was performed by pretreating mice with Oxt prior to administering PCP. We found that pretreatment with Oxt appears to cause a partial rescue of the PPI-disrupting effects of PCP in male Oxt-/- mice. As the actions of Oxt are mediated via binding to the Oxt receptor, pharmacologically disrupted PPI was examined in mice lacking the Oxt receptor (Oxtr-/-). We found that treatment with apomorphine, amphetamine and MK-801 equally disrupted PPI in wildtype and Oxtr-/- mice. Our data suggest that in Oxtr-/- mice the neurocircuitry involved in the regulation of PPI might be normal. Overall, these results indicate that the Oxt/Oxtr system plays an important role in social behavior and may have important implications in human behavioral disruptions.
Heather Caldwell, PhD (Advisor)
Eric Mintz, PhD (Committee Member)
Sean Veney, PhD (Committee Member)
45 p.
Biomedical Research
Oxytocin; knockout mice; schizophrenia; glutamate; startle; PPI; MK-801; amphetamine

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dike, O. E. (2009). UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF OXYTOCIN IN SENSORIMOTOR GATING DEFICITS [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1259437967

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dike, Obianuju. UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF OXYTOCIN IN SENSORIMOTOR GATING DEFICITS. 2009. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1259437967.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dike, Obianuju. "UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF OXYTOCIN IN SENSORIMOTOR GATING DEFICITS." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1259437967

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1259437967
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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.