Phencyclidine (PCP), a drug that blocks NMDA receptors, suppresses spontaneous electrical activity in networks of mouse brain cells grown on microelectrode arrays, reducing spike and burst rates. Pre-treating the networks with antipsychotic drugs—clozapine, aripiprazole, or haloperidol—shifted the PCP dose-response curve to the right, indicating protection. Clozapine and aripiprazole provided 20- to 30-fold greater protective potency than haloperidol's 6-fold shift. The findings suggest this in vitro setup can model schizophrenia-related network disruption and test potential treatments.
Phencyclidine (PCP) suppresses spontaneous activity in murine cortical networks in a concentration-dependent manner, reducing spike rate and burst peak firing rate. Pre-incubation with antipsychotic drugs (aripiprazole, clozapine, haloperidol) shifts the PCP concentration-response curve rightward, indicating a protective effect. The atypical antipsychotics aripiprazole and clozapine show 20- to 30-fold greater protective potency than haloperidol (6-fold), with clozapine being the most potent. The authors propose this microelectrode array setup as a simple electrophysiological model for testing pharmaceuticals against schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.