Cognitive deficits in individuals with schizophrenia (SCZ) are considered core symptoms of this disorder, and can manifest at the prodromal stage. Antipsychotics ameliorate positive symptoms but only modestly improve cognitive symptoms. The lack of treatments that improve cognitive abilities currently represents a major obstacle in developing more effective therapeutic strategies for this debilitating disorder. While D4 receptor (D4R)-specific antagonists are ineffective in the treatment of positive symptoms, animal studies suggest that D4R drugs can improve cognitive deficits. Moreover, recent work from our group suggests that D4Rs synergize with the neuregulin/ErbB4 signaling pathway, genetically identified as risk factors for SCZ, in parvalbumin (PV)-expressing interneurons to modulate gamma oscillations. These high-frequency network oscillations correlate with attention and increase during cognitive tasks in healthy subjects, and this correlation is attenuated in affected individuals. This finding, along with other observations indicating impaired GABAergic function, has led to the idea that abnormal neural activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in individuals with SCZ reflects a perturbation in the balance of excitation and inhibition. Here we review the current state of knowledge of D4R functions in the PFC and hippocampus, two major brain areas implicated in SCZ. Special emphasis is given to studies focusing on the potential role of D4Rs in modulating GABAergic transmission and to an emerging concept of a close synergistic relationship between dopamine/D4R and neuregulin/ErbB4 signaling pathways that tunes the activity of PV interneurons to regulate gamma frequency network oscillations and potentially cognitive processes.

ErbB4 signaling in the central nervous system is implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders and epilepsy. In cortical tissue, ErbB4 associates with excitatory synapses located on inhibitory interneurons. However, biochemical and histological data described herein demonstrate that the vast majority of ErbB4 is extrasynaptic and detergent-soluble. To explore the function of this receptor population, we used unbiased proteomics, in combination with electrophysiological, biochemical, and cell biological techniques, to identify a clinically relevant ErbB4-interacting protein, the GABA A receptor α1 subunit (GABAR α1). We show that ErbB4 and GABAR α1 are robustly coexpressed in hippocampal interneurons, and that ErbB4-null mice have diminished cortical GABAR α1 expression. Moreover, we characterize a Neuregulin-mediated ErbB4 signaling modality, independent of receptor tyrosine kinase activity, that couples ErbB4 to decreased postsynaptic GABAR currents on inhibitory interneurons. Consistent with an evolving understanding of GABAR trafficking, this pathway requires both clathrin-mediated endocytosis and protein kinase C to reduce GABAR inhibitory currents, surface GABAR α1 expression, and colocalization with the inhibitory postsynaptic protein gephyrin. Our results reveal a function of ErbB4, independent of its tyrosine kinase activity, that modulates postsynaptic inhibitory control of hippocampal interneurons and may provide a novel pharmacological target in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders and epilepsy.PKC | schizophrenia | hippocampus | parvalbumin | mIPSCs E rbB4 signaling regulates neuronal excitability (1, 2) and synaptic plasticity (3, 4) in the adult brain, and has been implicated in psychiatric disorders (5, 6) and epilepsy (2, 7). In the neocortex and hippocampus of rodents, monkeys, and humans, ErbB4 expression is restricted to GABAergic interneurons, and its expression is particularly high in parvalbumin-positive fastspiking (PV+) interneurons (8, 9). Of note, targeted ablation of ErbB4 specifically in PV+ interneurons recapitulates behavioral abnormalities of full ErbB4-null mice, highlighting the importance of ErbB4 signaling in this GABAergic interneuron subclass (10). Moreover, gamma oscillations, a type of high-frequency network activity that depends on synchronization of local circuits by PV+ interneurons, are augmented by Neuregulin (NRG)1 in vitro in an ErbB4-dependent manner (11).In the hippocampus, the GABA A receptor α1 subunit (GABAR α1), which imparts rapid decay kinetics (12), is also selectively expressed in subsets of inhibitory interneurons, especially in PV+ neurons (13,14). Furthermore, a mutation in GABRA1 has been linked to absence seizures (15), and heterozygous Gabra1-null mice show cortical absence epileptiform activity (16). Additionally, genome-wide linkage analyses have repeatedly identified a cluster of GABAR subunits, which includes GABRA1, as a schizophrenia (SCZ) susceptibility locus (17). Therefore, identifying mechanisms that acutely regulate α1-containing GABARs o...

Theories of lexical production differ in whether they allow phonological processes to affect lexical selection directly. Whereas some accounts, such as interactive activation accounts, predict (weak) early effects of phonological processes during lexical selection via feedback connections, strictly serial architectures do not make this prediction. We present evidence from lexical selection during unscripted sentence production that lexical selection is affected by the phonological form of recently produced words. In a video description experiment, participants described scenes that were compatible with several near-meaning-equivalent verbs. We found that speakers were less likely than expected by chance to select a verb form that would result in phonological onset overlap with the subject of the sentence. Additional evidence from the distribution of disfluencies immediately preceding the verb argues that this effect is due to early effects on lexical selection, rather than later corrective processes, such as self-monitoring. Taken together, these findings support accounts that allow early feedback from phonological processes to word-level nodes, even during lexical selection.

Alterations in the function of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and its major thalamic source of innervation, the mediodorsal (MD) thalamus, have been hypothesized to contribute to the symptoms of schizophrenia. The NMDAR antagonist ketamine, used to model schizophrenia, elicits a brain state resembling early stage schizophrenia characterized by cognitive deficits and increases in cortical low gamma (40–70 Hz) power. Here we sought to determine how ketamine differentially affects spiking and gamma local field potential (LFP) activity in the rat mPFC and MD thalamus. Additionally, we investigated the ability of drugs targeting the dopamine D4 receptor (D4R) to modify the effects of ketamine on gamma activity as a measure of potential cognitive therapeutic efficacy. Rats were trained to walk on a treadmill to reduce confounds related to hyperactivity after ketamine administration (10 mg/kg s.c.) while recordings were obtained from electrodes chronically implanted in the mPFC and MD thalamus. Ketamine increased gamma LFP power in mPFC and MD thalamus in a similar frequency range, yet did not increase thalamocortical synchronization. Ketamine also increased firing rates and spike synchronization to gamma oscillations in the mPFC but decreased both measures in MD thalamus. Conversely, walking alone increased both firing rates and spike-gamma LFP correlations in both mPFC and MD thalamus. The D4R antagonist alone (L-745,870) had no effect on gamma LFP power during treadmill walking, although it reversed increases induced by the D4R agonist (A-412997) in both mPFC and MD thalamus. Neither drug altered ketamine-induced changes in gamma power or firing rates in the mPFC. However, in MD thalamus, the D4R agonist increased ketamine-induced gamma power and prevented ketamine’s inhibitory effect on firing rates. Results provide new evidence that ketamine differentially modulates spiking and gamma power in MD thalamus and mPFC, supporting a potential role for both areas in contributing to ketamine-induced schizophrenia-like symptoms.