The effect of serotonergic lesions in the medial prefrontal cortex on psychotomimetic drug-induced locomotor hyperactivity and prepulse inhibition in rats

Abstract

While dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex has been repeatedly implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, the role of serotonin in this brain region in schizophrenia is unclear. We therefore examined the eff ects of local serotonin depletion in the medial prefrontal cortex on psychotomimetic drug-induced locomotor hyperactivity and prepulse inhibition, two animal models of aspects of schizophrenia. Pentobarbital-anaesthetised (60 mg/kg, i.p.) male Sprague- Dawley rats were stereotaxically micro-injected with 0.5 μl of a 5 μg/μl solution of the serotonin neurotoxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine into the medial prefrontal cortex. Two weeks after the surgery, rats underwent behavioural testi..