Sensory gating, cannabinoids and schizophrenia.

Sensory gating, a mandatory process in early information processing, has been found to be defective in neuropsychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia. Understanding the neurobiology of sensory gating may provide insight into unravelling the neurobiology of information processing and to yet unanswered queries on the pathophysiology of disabling neuropsychiatric diseases. The endocannabinoid system has been linked to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Furthermore, cannabinoids disrupt sensory gating in animals and humans which supports the hypothesis that the disruption of sensory gating by alterations in the endocannabinoid system is a significant factor in the etiology of schizophrenia. Based on the above hypothesis this article reviews the sensory gating process in relation to the auditory conditioning-test paradigm with an emphasis on its association with the endocannabinoid system and schizophrenia.