PRESSURE-INDUCED DISORDERS IN NEUROTRANSMISSION AND SPONTANEOUS BEHAVIOR IN RATS - AN ANIMAL-MODEL OF PSYCHOSIS

Disorders in neurotransmission and spontaneous behavior in rats expose d to a high pressure helium-oxygen mixture that shows interesting para llels with the dopaminergic hypothesis of schizophrenia at both the bi ochemical and the therapeutic responding levels are reviewed. Furtherm ore, as human subjects exposed to a very high pressure have shown psyc hotic episodes, we conclude that the pressure-induced disorders in neu rotransmission and spontaneous behavior in rats could constitute a val id animal model of schizophreniform psychosis and a useful tool for bo th the investigation of the biological mechanisms underlying schizophr enia and the development of new antipsychotic drugs.