Sensory gating
Sensory gating is a process by which the brain adjusts its response to stimuli[1]. It is a largely automatic process.
When one stimulus is presented, there is a response. But when it is followed by a second stimulus soon after, the response to the second stimulus is blunted. This is an adaptive mechanism to prevent overstimulation. It helps the brain focus on a stimulus among a host of other distractors.
The mechanism of sensory gating involves feed-forward and feed-back inhibition of the stimulus perceived. It involves GABA-ergic and Alpha-7 nicotinic receptor-mediated inhibition of the pyramidal neurons in the cornu ammonis (CA3) region of the hippocampus.
Sensory gating is thought to be disturbed in Schizophrenia[2]. Because the nicotinergic receptors mediate sensory gating, smoking cigarettes, which excites nicotinergic receptors, ameliorates symptoms of auditory hallucinations in many patients with schizophrenia.[3]
See also
References
- ^ Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 18801443, please use {{cite journal}} with
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|pmid=16469942instead. - ^ http://brainblogger.com/2009/07/03/why-do-schizophrenics-smoke-cigarettes/
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