Reduced prepulse inhibition as a biomarker of schizophrenia

The startle response is composed by a set of reflex behaviors intended to prepare the organism to face a potentially relevant stimulus. This response can be modulated by several factors as, for example, repeated presentations of the stimulus (startle habituation), or by previous presentation of a weak stimulus (Prepulse Inhibition [PPI]). Both phenomena appear disrupted in schizophrenia that is thought to reflect an alteration in dopaminergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission. In this paper we analyze whether the reported deficits are indicating a transient effect restricted to the acute phase of the disease, or if it reflects a more general biomarker or endophenotype of the disorder. To this end, we measured startle responses in the same set of thirteen schizophrenia patients with a cross-sectional design at two periods: 5 days after hospital admission and 3 months after discharge. The results showed that both startle habituation and PPI were impaired in the schizophrenia patients at the acute stage as compared to a control group composed by 13 healthy participants, and that PPI but not startle habituation remained disrupted when registered 3 months after the discharge. These data point to the consideration of PPI, but not startle habituation, as a schizophrenia biomarker.

• Autores: Mena, Auxiliadora; Ruiz-Salas, Juan C.; Puentes, Andrea; Dorado, Inmaculada; Ruiz-Veguilla, Miguel; De la Casa, Luis G.
• Fecha de publicación: 2016
• Institución: Universidad El Bosque
• Repositorio: Repositorio U. El Bosque
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:repositorio.unbosque.edu.co:20.500.12495/1909
• Acceso en línea: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12495/1909; https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00202
• Palabra clave: Esquizofrenia; Transmisión sináptica; Biomarcadores; Endophenotype; Prepulse inhibition; Startle
• License: Attribution 4.0 International