Electrophysiological correlates include loss of gamma-band responses to sensory stimuli and elevated neuronal activity in the default mode.49 Disinhibition of glutamatergic output from the ventral hippocampus would drive the firing of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area and enhanced subcortical dopamine release, which in PET studies correlates with psychosis.50 Thus, in this model, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical psychosis is a downstream event. Figure 1. Schematic representation

of the synaptic circuitry relevant to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. NMDA receptor hypofunction can be produced by exogenous antagonists such as ketamine, endogenous antagonists such as N-acetyl aspartyl glutamate (NAAG) … Hypofunction of NMDA receptors could account for other aspects of the disorder. First, given the role of NMDA receptors in neuronal migration,51 it could account for the finding of abnormal distribution of cortical GABAergic interneurons in some cases.52 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Secondly, persistent hypofunction of NMDA receptors is consistent with the reduced pyramidal neuron dendritic complexity, reduced Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical spine density, and net compaction of the neuropil in schizophrenia.37 Obviously, the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is much more complex and nuanced than selleck chemical suggested by this simplified model. Indeed, a number of putative risk genes encode

transcriptional factors that affect brain development.53 Other risk genes encode products involved in myelination.54 Furthermore, in recognition of the variation in symptoms among patients who satisfy the diagnostic Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical criteria for schizophrenia and its complex genetics, where literally hundreds of genes of modest effect might be involved, the proposed “pathologic circuit” represents at best a crude first approximation of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Nevertheless,

it does yield a host of potential targets for therapeutic intervention, and many of these are under investigation by the pharmaceutical industry. It is these potential therapeutic targets related to this circuit that are the subject of this review (Figure 2). Of particular interest is the fact that these targets would intervene in the primary cortical pathology of schizophrenia and thus potentially treat the negative symptoms and cognitive deficits. Figure 2. Potential pharmacologic interventions to treat PAK6 schizophrenia: (i) Enhance NMDA receptor function by increasing synaptic glycine concentrations with an inhibitor of GlyT1 , administering exogenous D-serine, inhibiting D-amino acid oxidase or by treating … Targeting the glutamatergic synapse Structure and function of the NMDA receptor The NMDA receptor, with its triple gate for activation, is a critical postsynaptic mediator of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity.