Kumari Veena, Sharma Tonmoy
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2002 Jul;162(2):97-101. doi: 10.1007/s00213-002-1099-x. Epub 2002 Jun 5.
Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response refers to an attenuation in response to a strong stimulus (pulse) if this is preceded shortly by a weak non-startling stimulus (prepulse). PPI provides a simple operational measure of sensorimotor gating, serving to prevent the interruption of ongoing perceptual and early sensory analysis. In accord with postulated deficits in early stages of information processing, there is ample evidence that PPI is disrupted in individuals with schizophrenia. PPI in animals is thought to represent a well-validated model for evaluating potential new treatments for schizophrenia. Currently, available data on the differential effects of typical and atypical antipsychotics suggest that atypical antipsychotics, in particular clozapine and risperidone, may be more effective than typical antipsychotics in improving PPI deficits in schizophrenia. However, studies have so far used small samples and/or between-subjects designs, and not examined the effects of other concomitant medications that may also influence PPI. The directions are identified for further applications of this model using within-subjects longitudinal designs and reasonable sample sizes to establish superiority of particular atypical antipsychotics over typical antipsychotics in improving PPI in schizophrenic populations.
惊吓反应的前脉冲抑制（PPI）是指如果在一个强烈刺激（脉冲）之前不久出现一个微弱的非惊吓刺激（前脉冲），则对该强烈刺激的反应会减弱。PPI提供了一种简单的感觉运动门控操作测量方法，用于防止正在进行的感知和早期感觉分析被打断。与信息处理早期阶段的假设缺陷一致，有充分证据表明精神分裂症患者的PPI受到破坏。动物中的PPI被认为是评估精神分裂症潜在新治疗方法的一个经过充分验证的模型。目前，关于典型和非典型抗精神病药物差异效应的现有数据表明，非典型抗精神病药物，特别是氯氮平和利培酮，在改善精神分裂症患者的PPI缺陷方面可能比典型抗精神病药物更有效。然而，迄今为止的研究使用的样本量较小和/或采用组间设计，并且没有考察其他可能也会影响PPI的伴随药物的作用。确定了使用组内纵向设计和合理样本量进一步应用该模型的方向，以确立特定非典型抗精神病药物在改善精神分裂症患者PPI方面优于典型抗精神病药物。
