The amygdala modulates prepulse inhibition of the auditory startle reflex through excitatory inputs to the caudal pontine reticular nucleus.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sensorimotor gating is a fundamental pre-attentive process that is defined as the inhibition of a motor response by a sensory event. Sensorimotor gating, commonly measured using the prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the auditory startle reflex task, is impaired in patients suffering from various neurological and psychiatric disorders. PPI deficits are a hallmark of schizophrenia, and they are often associated with attention and other cognitive impairments. Although the reversal of PPI deficits in animal models is widely used in pre-clinical research for antipsychotic drug screening, the neurotransmitter systems and synaptic mechanisms underlying PPI are still not resolved, even under physiological conditions. Recent evidence ruled out the longstanding hypothesis that PPI is m

SUBMITTER: Cano JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8176709 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature