Background
Schizophrenia is a chronic and devastating brain disorder characterized by hallucinations
and delusions, symptoms reflecting impaired reality testing. Although animal models
have captured negative symptoms and cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia,
none have addressed these defining, positive symptoms.
Methods
Here we tested the performance of adults given neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions
(NVHL), a neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia, in two taste aversion procedures.
Results
Normal and NVHL rats formed aversions to a palatable food when the food was directly
paired with nausea, but only NVHL rats formed a food aversion when the cue predicting
that food was paired with nausea. The failure of NVHL rats to discriminate fully real
from imagined food parallels the failure of people with schizophrenia to differentiate
internal thoughts and beliefs from reality.
Conclusions
These results further validate the NVHL model of schizophrenia and provide a means
to assess impaired reality testing in variety of animal models.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 28, 2011
Accepted:
June 16,
2011
Received in revised form:
June 10,
2011
Received:
April 11,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
