Behavioral Biomarkers of Schizophrenia in High Drinker Rats: A Potential Endophenotype of Compulsive Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

ABSTRACT: Psychogenic polydipsia, which is compulsive, non-regulatory fluid consumption, is present in 6%-20% of chronic psychiatric patients and frequently associated with the schizophrenia diagnosis. In the present study, we investigated the relation between schizophrenia-like symptoms and biomarkers with a compulsive drinking behavior phenotype in rats. Rats that were selected for low drinking vs high drinking behavior following schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) were assessed in a latent inhibition (LI) paradigm using tone and electrical foot shock and in a spatial reversal learning task to evaluate behavioral inflexibility. We also analyzed the myelin basic protein in different brain areas of high drinker (HD) and low drinker (LD) rats. The HD rats, which were characterized by a compulsive drink

SUBMITTER: Navarro SV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5472118 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature