Proceedings of the Australian Neuroscience Society Symposium: Schizophrenia A PREDICTED CORTICAL SEROTONERGIC/CHOLINERGIC/GABAERGIC INTERFACE AS A SITE OF PATHOLOGY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

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Abstract
1. The pathological process that precipitates schizophrenia has yet to be identified. However, many lines of evidence suggest that a change in the functioning of the frontal cortex is an important abnormality that underlies schizophrenia. 2. Studies in Brodmann’s area 9, obtained post-mortem, have shown changes in 5-hydroxytryptamine 5-HT2A, muscarinic M1 and GABAA receptors in tissue from subjects with schizophrenia. 3. Animal studies suggest a site in the cortex where there would be an interaction between serotonergic and cholinergic innervation and that this interaction would involve the 5-HT2A and the M1 receptor. This site, in turn, would be a potent modulator of GABA activity and, hence, levels of GABAA receptors. 4. From combining these data, a theoretical site is proposed that, if proven to exist in human cortex, is likely to be central to the pathology of that illness.