Neurocognitive dysfunction is a core feature of several psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar illness however, the severity and pattern of cognitive impairment in these two disorders differs significantly, as does the timing of the onset of cognitive deficits. Compelling clinical, social, and economic reasons exist to innovate in the process of drug discovery for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Early stage drug discovery for neuropsychiatric disorders, includes support of quantitative biochemistry, functional genomics, proteomics, and perhaps most notably, high-throughput and high-content chemical screening. Animal behavior tests for treating neuropsychiatric disorders are required at a later stage. To accelerate development of compounds to treat schizophrenia and related disorders, Creative Bioarray offers a variety of assays, including a number of well-established ones related to dopaminergic or hypo-glutamatergic hyperactivity.

Fig.1 The effect of raloxifene on amphetamine-induced locomotion in rats with or without exogenous circulating testosterone

Compounds can also be assessed in the conditioned avoidance assay, as selective disruption of the conditioned response is a characteristic property of both typical and novel antipsychotic agents. As with all of our services, Creative Bioarray works to design a program that is specific to your objectives.

Assays

• Amphetamine/PCP induced locomotor activity

• Apomorphine induced rearing climbing

• Conditioned Avoidance Response

Reference

1. Purves-Tyson TD, et al. Testosterone attenuates and the selective estrogen receptor modulator, raloxifene, potentiates amphetamine-induced locomotion in male rats. Horm Behav 2015; 70: 73–84.

Related Section

• Spontaneous Locomotor Functions
• Cognitive Functions
• Anxiety-Depression and Social Interaction Evaluation