Alcohol Consumption in a Preclinical Model of Schizophrenia

• Main Author: Hernandez, Liza
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2020
• Subjects: Schizophrenia; Alcohol; Quinpirole; Animal Model; Behavioral Neurobiology
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3693; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5165&context=etd

Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric disorder that affects approximately 1% of the global population. Schizophrenia is highly comorbid with other psychiatric disorders such as Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) with a prevalence rate of 27% - 65%, which is significantly higher than AUD exhibited by the general population (6%). Research indicates that a higher rate of AUD in individuals suffering from schizophrenia may be related to the common neuronal pathways that underlie the expression of both disorders. The present study will determine whether the neonatal quinpirole (NQ) rodent model of schizophrenia will approximate the human condition and exhibit increased EtOH consumption. Rats will be treated neonatally with quinpirole or saline. Following the treatment period, rats will be tested for EtOH consumption using a 24-hour two-bottle free-access paradigm. The proposed research will test the hypothesis that rats neonatally treated with quinpirole will consume significantly greater amounts of EtOH than their saline counterparts.