Project Summary

Julie A. Kauer, Ph.D. (Independent Investigator 2002) of Brown University, plans to examine basic properties of glutamate synapses in normal rat brain tissue, using electrophysiological recordings from individual dopamine neurons focusing particularly on synaptic function dependent on NMDA receptors.  Research has indicated that dopaminergic systems are not over-active during schizophrenia, and that instead the symptoms of the disorder result from impairment of a distinct neurotransmitter class.  Recent evidence supports the idea that glutamatergic systems, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, malfunction during schizophrenia.  Glutamate is the most prevalent excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, and normally binds to four receptor subtypes.  Evidence suggests that schizophrenic symptoms can be exacerbated by and mimicked by drugs acting at one receptor subtype, the NMDA receptor.  She will also examine the modulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission by drugs of two classes used to treat schizophrenic agents.  Dr. Kauer hopes that by defining basic characteristics of glutamate neurotransmission into the dopaminergic region implicated in schizophrenia that she can contribute to the understanding of sites that might be impaired in the disorder, as well as the effects of drugs used to treat the disorder.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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