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Noise benefit in prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex

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An Erratum to this article was published on 22 December 2010

Abstract

Rationale

Under some conditions, external sensory noise enhances cognitive functions, a phenomenon possibly involving stochastic resonance and/or enhanced central dopamine transmission. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex is a robust measure of sensorimotor gating and can be modulated by activity in the cortex and basal ganglia, including the central dopamine pathways.

Objectives

Previous empirical studies suggest a differential effect of acoustic noise in normal children and children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study investigated the effect of acoustic noise on PPI and if dopamine transmission interacts with acoustic noise effects in a rat ADHD model.

Methods

The effect of background acoustic noise on acoustic startle response and PPI were measured with a constant prepulse to background noise ratio of 9 dB(A). Spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats were used as the ADHD model and compared with Wistar and Sprague–Dawley rats. Microdialysis, methylphenidate treatment and 6-OHDA lesions were used to investigate interaction with dopamine transmission.

Results

Background noise facilitated PPI differently in SH rats and controls. The prefrontal cortex in SH rats had low basal dopamine concentrations, a high DOPAC/dopamine ratio and blunted dopamine release during PPI testing. Methylphenidate had small, but strain-specific, effects on startle and PPI. Bilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions did not alter startle or PPI.

Conclusions

Prefrontal dopamine transmission is altered in SH rats during the sensorimotor gating task of PPI of the acoustic startle, indicating increased dopamine reuptake in this ADHD rat model. We propose that noise benefit could be explored as a non-pharmacological alternative for treating neuropsychiatric disorders.

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Abbreviations

ADHD:

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

PPI:

Prepulse inhibition

DA:

Dopamine

DAT:

Dopamine transporter

SH:

Spontaneously hypertensive

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Acknowledgements

The Ethics Committee for Animal Experiments, Gothenburg, Sweden, approved all experimental procedures. Housing, handling and procedures complied with national Swedish law, principles of laboratory animal care and the European Communities Council Directive of November 24, 1986. The study was supported by the Swedish Research Council, grant VR 421-2007-2479, Parkinsonfonden and Svenska läkaresällskapet (the Swedish Medical Association).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Box 400, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Erik Pålsson & Daniel Klamer

  2. Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Göran Söderlund

  3. Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabiliation, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Box 400, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Filip Bergquist

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  1. Erik Pålsson
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  4. Filip Bergquist
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Correspondence to Filip Bergquist.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-2135-x

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Pålsson, E., Söderlund, G., Klamer, D. et al. Noise benefit in prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex. Psychopharmacology 214, 675–685 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-2074-6

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