CORTEX PREFRONTAL, MONOAMINES ET NEUROPSYCHOLOGIE DE LA SCHIZOPHRENIE

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a critical role in the temporal organization of motivated behavioral sequences, in cognitive processes such as representational memory, and in the regulation of emotional states. The PFC is also an area where the three main ascending monoaminergic systems converge, namely dopamine, serotonine (5-HT), and noradrenaline. It has been shown that these monoaminergic neurotransmitters, each in its own way, determine whether PFC neurons are receptive or not to incoming messages. In the normal waking state, this permits the brain to segregate essential information from accessory events. In thought disorders such as schizophrenia, this mechanism is deficient, but normal information processing can be reinstated by means of monoaminergic-active neuroleptics, as shown by preliminary results presented here.