多巴胺D2受体参与调节感觉门控的机制

精神分裂症是一种常见的病因不明的精神疾病。大量文献表明精神分裂症患者所表现出来的认知紊乱和思维异常等症状与感觉门控功能的缺失有密切的关系, 感觉门控是指在充满刺激的环境中, 从外界的感觉信息中过滤无关的感觉信息然后执行与注意力相关的认知过程, 以对显著的刺激做出反应。研究感觉门控的经典范式是震惊反射的前脉冲抑制。研究发现多巴胺D₂受体可以参与调控前脉冲抑制的过程, 但是多巴胺D₂受体参与调控前脉冲抑制的机制仍不清楚。探讨多巴胺D₂受体参与调控感觉门控即前脉冲抑制的关键脑区、神经环路及分子机制, 有利于促进对精神分裂症感觉门控功能的深入研究。

Mechanisms underlying the role of D2 receptors in regulating sensory gating

Schizophrenia is a common psychotic disease whose etiology and mechanism are not well defined. It has been shown that the symptoms of cognitive disorder and abnormal thoughts of schizophrenics are associated with the deficit of sensory gating. Sensory gating refers to filter irrelevant sensory information from the external ones and then implement the cognitive process related to attention, so as to respond to prominent stimuli. The pre-pulse inhibition (PPI) paradigm is always used to study sensory gating. It has been found that dopamine D₂ receptors play a critical role in regulating PPI, but the mechanisms underlying the role of dopamine D₂ receptors in regulating PPI remain largely elusive. The review focuses on molecular mechanisms underlying the regulating effect of dopamine D2 receptors on sensory gating, so as to promote the in-depth study of sensory gating function in schizophrenia.