Multifactorial Etiology, Animal Models and Behavioral Measurements of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental illnesses, with an incidence rate of approximately 70 per 100,000 people in China and a lifetime prevalence of about 1%. Currently, over 8 million individuals live with schizophrenia in China, and this number is steadily increasing each year. Schizophrenia is highly prevalent and prone to relapse, with a long and progressively worsening course that often becomes chronic. Without timely and effective treatment, it can lead to mental decline and varying degrees of cognitive impairment, severely impacting individuals' ability to adapt to social life. Animal models are ideal for studying the mechanisms and treatments of schizophrenia, as they allow researchers to create similar toxicological, pharmacological, and physiological processes under controlled conditions. This paper reviews the multifactorial etiology of schizophrenia, which includes genetic aspects (such as those identified by genome-wide association studies), epigenetic modifications that influence gene expression, and environmental factors (urbanicity, social maladjustment, prenatal exposures). We describe four main rodent models for schizophrenia: pharmacological, neurodevelopmental, transgenic, and combined method models. We also talk about the behavioral tasks to measure its symptoms in animals. Pharmacological models use drugs such as PCP, ketamine, MK801, and CPZ. Neurodevelopmental models disrupt brain development. Transgenic models look at genetic factors. Combined models bring together multiple ways. For behavioral tasks, the open field test measures positive symptoms. The forced swim test, tail suspension test, and three-chamber social interaction test measure negative symptoms. Maze tests, novel object recognition, and odor span tasks measure cognitive symptoms. Animal models are very important for improving our knowledge and finding better treatments, even though it's hard to model human traits.