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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Habituation and Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle in Rodents
Published on: September 1, 2011
The effects of the dopamine D2 agonist sumanirole on prepulse inhibition in rats
Martin Weber1, Wei-Li Chang, Michelle R Breier
1Department of Psychiatry, UCSD School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093-0804, USA.
Abstract:
Dopamine agonists reduce prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle in rats. While it is used to predict antipsychotic efficacy, the specific receptor subtypes mediating this effect of dopamine agonists remain unclear. We characterized the effects of sumanirole, a highly selective D2 agonist, on PPI in rats. Sumanirole decreased PPI at 60-120 ms prepulse intervals, and increased PPI at 10-20 ms intervals. PPI deficits were antagonized by low doses of the preferential D2 antagonist L741626, supporting a D2 mechanism of action. Sumanirole is a valuable tool for parsing the role of dopamine receptor subtypes in the regulation of PPI.
