Reduced expression of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, which results in deficient activity-dependent secretion of BDNF, is associated with clinical features of schizophrenia. We investigated the effect of this polymorphism on Prepulse Inhibition (PPI), a translational model of sensorimotor gating which is disrupted in schizophrenia. We utilized humanized BDNF Val66Met (hBDNF
Val66Met) mice which have been modified to carry the Val66Met polymorphism, as well as express humanized BDNF in vivo. We also studied the longterm effect of chronic corticosterone (CORT) exposure in these animals as a model of history of stress. PPI was assessed at 30 ms and 100 ms interstimulus intervals (ISI). Analysis of PPI at the commonly used 100 ms ISI identified that, irrespective of CORT treatment, the hBDNF