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Ketamine-induced distractibility: An oculomotor study in monkeys
Carine Condy1, Nicolas Wattiez, Sophie Rivaud-Péchoux
1INSERM U289, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Biological Psychiatry
|February 12, 2005
Summary
Ketamine administration in monkeys replicated schizophrenia-like behavioral deficits, including poor antisaccade performance. This finding supports ketamine as a valid pharmacological model for studying schizophrenia and distractibility.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychopharmacology
- Animal Models of Disease
Background:
- Subanesthetic ketamine doses induce schizophrenia-like behavioral disorders.
- Poor antisaccade performance is a core deficit in schizophrenia.
- Ketamine's ability to induce distractibility, a key feature of schizophrenia, remains under-investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if ketamine administration reproduces the antisaccade deficit observed in schizophrenia.
- To validate ketamine as a pharmacological model for schizophrenia research.
Main Methods:
- Two monkeys were trained on visually guided saccade and antisaccade tasks.
- The effects of acute ketamine or saline administration on task performance were assessed.
Main Results:
- Ketamine significantly increased the antisaccade error rate and latency.
- These ketamine-induced deficits mirror those seen in human schizophrenic subjects.
- Additional impairments included increased reflexive saccade latency and gaze-evoked nystagmus.
Conclusions:
- Ketamine administration effectively models the antisaccade dysfunction characteristic of schizophrenia.
- This study validates ketamine as a useful pharmacological tool for schizophrenia research.
- Future research can leverage this model to explore the pharmacological underpinnings of distractibility.
