The effect of immobilization stress on sensory gating in mice

Central sensory filtering processes can be demonstrated using a paired stimulus paradigm. Normal humans show a diminished, vertex-recorded midlatency (50 ms) of auditory evoked potential to the second of paired clicks (0.5 s apart), a phenomenon termed as auditory gating. A loss of 50 ms in auditory gating is strongly related to psychosis. The N40 auditory evoked potential (EP) in rats has been used to develop an animal model for the study of sensory gating mechanisms. Previous animal studies of auditory gating have used psychotomimetic drug administration to induce sensory gating. However, a nonpharmacologic model of deficient gating would be advantageous