Prevention of schizophrenia deficits via non-invasive adolescent frontal cortex stimulation in rats

Mol Psychiatry. 2020 Apr;25(4):896-905. doi: 10.1038/s41380-019-0356-x. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a severe neurodevelopmental psychiatric affliction manifested behaviorally at late adolescence/early adulthood. Current treatments comprise antipsychotics which act solely symptomatic, are limited in their effectiveness and often associated with side-effects. We here report that application of non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) during adolescence, prior to schizophrenia-relevant behavioral manifestation, prevents the development of positive symptoms and related neurobiological alterations in the maternal immune stimulation (MIS) model of schizophrenia.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Frontal Lobe / metabolism*
  • Male
  • Prefrontal Cortex / metabolism
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Schizophrenia / metabolism*
  • Schizophrenia / therapy*
  • Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / methods