IMR Press / FBS / Volume 3 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.2741/S129

Frontiers in Bioscience-Scholar (FBS) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 1 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Myelin, copper, and the cuprizone model of schizophrenia
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1 Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry and Center for Molecular Neuroscience and Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, 37203

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

 

Front. Biosci. (Schol Ed) 2011, 3(1), 23–40; https://doi.org/10.2741/S129
Published: 1 January 2011
Abstract

In recent years increasing evidence is pointing toward white matter abnormalities in schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. The present paper will provide an overview over the role of myelin in cognition and brain function, and its potential involvement in brain disorders. Furthermore, we will examine one particular experimental model for the study of dysmyelination, created by the administration of the toxin cuprizone. Cuprizone, a copper chelator, causes white matter abnormalities in rodents. The administration of cuprizone during specific developmental periods allows for the targeting of specific brain areas for dysmyelination. Thus, cuprizone can be used to study the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of myelin deficiencies in the central nervous system, and its effect on behaviors relevant to psychiatric disorders.

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