TY - JOUR
T1 - Chronic nicotine attenuates phencyclidine-induced impulsivity in a mouse serial reaction time task
AU - Scott, Daniel
AU - Taylor, Jane R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Support: We thank members of the Division of Molecular Psychiatry, and funding from NARSAD (JRT), DA011717 (JRT) and the CT Department of Mental Health. Daniel Scott was supported by a NIMH T32-14276 (Duman).
PY - 2014/2/1
Y1 - 2014/2/1
N2 - Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. While positive symptoms can be effectively treated with typical antipsychotic medication, which generally affects the dopaminergic system, negative and cognitive symptoms, including attentional deficits and impulsive behavior, are less sensitive to standard treatments. It has further been well documented that schizophrenic patients use tobacco products at a rate much higher than the general population, and this persists despite treatment. It has been argued this behavior may be a form of self-medication, to alleviate some symptoms of schizophrenia. It has further been posited that prefrontal glutamatergic hypofunction may underlie some aspects of schizophrenia, and in accordance with this model, systemic phencyclidine has been used to model the disease. We employed a modified 5-choice serial reaction time test, a paradigm that is often used to investigate many of the treatment-resistant symptoms of schizophrenia including impulsivity, selective attention, and sustained attention/cognitive vigilance, to determine the medicinal effects of nicotine. We demonstrate that chronic oral, but not acute injections of nicotine can selectively attenuate phencyclidine-induced increases in impulsivity without affecting other measures of attention. This suggests that nicotine use by schizophrenics may provide some relief of distinct symptoms that involve impulsive behaviors.
AB - Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. While positive symptoms can be effectively treated with typical antipsychotic medication, which generally affects the dopaminergic system, negative and cognitive symptoms, including attentional deficits and impulsive behavior, are less sensitive to standard treatments. It has further been well documented that schizophrenic patients use tobacco products at a rate much higher than the general population, and this persists despite treatment. It has been argued this behavior may be a form of self-medication, to alleviate some symptoms of schizophrenia. It has further been posited that prefrontal glutamatergic hypofunction may underlie some aspects of schizophrenia, and in accordance with this model, systemic phencyclidine has been used to model the disease. We employed a modified 5-choice serial reaction time test, a paradigm that is often used to investigate many of the treatment-resistant symptoms of schizophrenia including impulsivity, selective attention, and sustained attention/cognitive vigilance, to determine the medicinal effects of nicotine. We demonstrate that chronic oral, but not acute injections of nicotine can selectively attenuate phencyclidine-induced increases in impulsivity without affecting other measures of attention. This suggests that nicotine use by schizophrenics may provide some relief of distinct symptoms that involve impulsive behaviors.
KW - Impulsivity
KW - Nicotine
KW - Phencyclidine
KW - Schizophrenia
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84888800153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.11.009
DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.11.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 24239695
AN - SCOPUS:84888800153
SN - 0166-4328
VL - 259
SP - 164
EP - 173
JO - Behavioural Brain Research
JF - Behavioural Brain Research
ER -