Schizophrenia, a myelin deficiency ?

Research Published May 14 2020
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Interneuron hypomyelination is associated with cognitive inflexibility in a rat model of schizophrenia, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS.

Dorien MAAS, PhD and Brahim NAIT-OUMESMAR, co-team leader at the Paris Brain Institute, just published in Nature Communications on the prefrontal cortex myelination as a key feature in schizophrenia aetiology.

 

Abstract

Impaired cognitive functioning is a core feature of schizophrenia, and is hypothesized to be due to myelination as well as interneuron defects during adolescent prefrontal cortex (PFC) development. Here we report that in the apomorphine-susceptible (APO-SUS) rat model, which has schizophrenia-like features, a myelination defect occurred specifically in parvalbumin interneurons. The adult rats displayed medial PFC (mPFC)-dependent cognitive inflexibility, and a reduced number of mature oligodendrocytes and myelinated parvalbumin inhibitory axons in the mPFC. In the developing mPFC, we observed decreased myelin-related gene expression that persisted into adulthood. Environmental enrichment applied during adolescence restored parvalbumin interneuron hypomyelination as well as cognitive inflexibility. Collectively, these findings highlight that impairment of parvalbumin interneuron myelination is related to schizophrenia-relevant cognitive deficits.

 

Source :

Interneuron hypomyelination is associated with cognitive inflexibility in a rat model of schizophrenia , NATURE COMMUNICATIONS volume 11, Article number: 2329 (2020)