Analysis of the brain wave patterns in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of rodents under the influence of Ketamine and Dizocilpine

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects approximately 0.4% of the world population, presenting positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. The glutamatergic hypothesis suggests a cerebral imbalance of the neurotransmitter glutamate, with findings indicating that dissociative anesthetics such as ketamine (KET), which are NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor antagonists, a type of glutamatergic receptor, induce various symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia. Other findings include alterations in the pattern of brain waves in schizophrenia patients, specifically an alteration in gamma frequency. In animal studies with KET, an increase in gamma power, an electrophysiological alteration, has been observed, along with behavioral and biochemical changes, further supporting the animal model for schizophrenia. The present research aims to identify and characterize the oscillatory patterns in brain waves of rats under the effects of the NMDA blockers KET and dizocilpine (MK-801).