Abstract
Schizophrenia is a complex, heterogeneous psychiatric disorder that affects about
1% of the global population. Hippocampal dysfunction has been linked to both
cognitive deficits and positive symptoms in schizophrenia. Here, we briefly
review current findings on disrupted hippocampal processing from a clinical
perspective before concentrating on preclinical studies of aberrant hippocampal
synaptic plasticity using the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor hypofunction model
of psychosis and related findings from genetic models. Taken together, the
results put the case for maladaptive hippocampal synaptic plasticity and its
extrinsic connections as mechanistic underpinnings of cognitive impairments in
schizophrenia.
Key words
schizophrenia - hippocampus - synaptic plasticity - dopamine - long-term potentiation