Experimental Models of Cognitive Impairments in Schizophrenia

Cognitive impairments in schizophrenia are currently regarded as the third key group of symptoms, along with negative and productive psychopathological symptomatology. They are encountered in a majority of patients and determine the functional outcome of illness. This article presents a review of the literature on modeling of cognitive impairments in schizophrenia in animals. Pharmacological, ontogenetic, and genetic models are discussed, along with their mechanisms and characteristic manifestations, and methods of evaluating cognitive functions in rodents. There is now a multitude of methods for modeling individual cognitive impairments typical of schizophrenia patients in animals. These models are required for further development of psychopharmacology and studies of pathophysiological mechanisms, though none as yet allows the whole set and heterogenous structure of cognitive defi cit seen in patients to be reproduced. Particular attention is paid to ontogenetic models which can be used to study risk factors for the development of schizophrenia and early interventions in states posing high risks of developing psychosis. © 2021, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.