Review of Experimental Models of Schizophrenia

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disease that has a lifetime prevalence of 1% in most of the populations studied. The neuropathology and psychopathology of Schizophrenia are still poorly understood. This is attributed to the paucity of adequate animal models. Schizophrenia is a disorder of the human brain. Consequently, the potency of animal models in Schizophrenia research is limited to certain aspects of the disease. One of the most difficult aspects of modelling Schizophrenia in animals has been the lack of a clear and explicit conceptual framework for this disorder. This review discussed drug-induced animal models of Schizophrenia such as Ketamine (NMDA receptor antagonist), Phencyclidine (NMDA receptor antagonist) etc. It also discussed genetic animal models of Schizophrenia which include but not limited to Schizophrenia susceptibility Genes, Neuregulin-1(NRG1), DAT gene, Zinc finger DHH-type3 containing 8 (ZDHHC8) and Dysbindin. It went further to discuss fetal models Schizophrenia, postweaning social isolation and ended with In-Vitro animal models. The use of animal models to improve understanding of the neurochemical and structural CNS changes that precipitate development of Schizophrenia, rather than a focus on treating the symptoms, is a prerequisite to enable new more effective therapeutic strategies to be developed. Because of the complexity and ambiguity of gene-gene and gene-environment interactions in the aetiology of schizophrenia, the challenge of developing more reliable predictive animal models of this disorder, most likely through multiple early-life interventions, is still ongoing.