Evaluation of Sensorimotor Gating Deficits in Mice Through Prepulse Inhibition (PPI) of the Startle Response.

Prepulse inhibition of the startle response is a behavioral measure used to study sensorimotor gating deficits seen in schizophrenia. Hallucinogenic drugs that activate 5-HT2A receptors, such as psilocybin, LSD, and DOI, produce schizophrenia-like symptoms in healthy people and can model these behaviors in rodents. This protocol describes how to evaluate prepulse inhibition in male CD1-Swiss mice after a single dose of DOI.

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Abstract

Prepulse inhibition of the startle response enables measuring animal behavior and helps us understand core aspects of neuropsychiatric diseases. Prepulse inhibition is considered a translational indicator of sensorimotor gating deficits present in schizophrenia patients and is crucial in the characterization of animal models of schizophrenia-like behaviors. Hallucinogenic drugs acting through 5-HT2A receptors, such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and dimethoxyiodoamphetamine (DOI), produce symptoms in healthy subjects comparable to those seen in schizophrenia and can be used in rodent models for mimicking some of these behaviors. Here we describe a protocol for the evaluation of prepulse inhibition of the startle response in CD1-Swiss male mice after a single dose of the hallucinogenic drug DOI.