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What causes aberrant salience in schizophrenia? A role for impaired short-term habituation and the GRIA1 (GluA1) AMPA receptor subunit

Barkus, C.; Sanderson, D. J.; Rawlins, J. N. P.; Walton, M. E.; Harrison, P. J.; Bannerman, D. M.

What causes aberrant salience in schizophrenia? A role for impaired short-term habituation and the GRIA1 (GluA1) AMPA receptor subunit Thumbnail


Authors

C. Barkus

J. N. P. Rawlins

M. E. Walton

P. J. Harrison

D. M. Bannerman



Abstract

The GRIA1 locus, encoding the GluA1 (also known as GluRA or GluR1) AMPA glutamate receptor subunit, shows genome-wide association to schizophrenia. As well as extending the evidence that glutamatergic abnormalities have a key role in the disorder, this finding draws attention to the behavioural phenotype of Gria1 knockout mice. These mice show deficits in short-term habituation. Importantly, under some conditions the attention being paid to a recently presented neutral stimulus can actually increase rather than decrease (sensitization). We propose that this mouse phenotype represents a cause of aberrant salience and, in turn, that aberrant salience (and the resulting positive symptoms) in schizophrenia may arise, at least in part, from a glutamatergic genetic predisposition and a deficit in short-term habituation. This proposal links an established risk gene with a psychological process central to psychosis and is supported by findings of comparable deficits in short-term habituation in mice lacking the NMDAR receptor subunit Grin2a (which also shows association to schizophrenia). As aberrant salience is primarily a dopaminergic phenomenon, the model supports the view that the dopaminergic abnormalities can be downstream of a glutamatergic aetiology. Finally, we suggest that, as illustrated here, the real value of genetically modified mice is not as ‘models of schizophrenia’ but as experimental tools that can link genomic discoveries with psychological processes and help elucidate the underlying neural mechanisms.

Citation

Barkus, C., Sanderson, D. J., Rawlins, J. N. P., Walton, M. E., Harrison, P. J., & Bannerman, D. M. (2014). What causes aberrant salience in schizophrenia? A role for impaired short-term habituation and the GRIA1 (GluA1) AMPA receptor subunit. Molecular Psychiatry, 19(10), 1060-1070. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2014.91

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 25, 2014
Online Publication Date Sep 16, 2014
Publication Date Oct 1, 2014
Deposit Date Sep 16, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Molecular Psychiatry
Print ISSN 1359-4184
Electronic ISSN 1476-5578
Publisher Springer Nature
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 19
Issue 10
Pages 1060-1070
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2014.91
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1420919

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.





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