The present invention relates to a method for screening therapeutic drugs of schizophrenia using an animal model of the disease. More specifically, this invention relates to a screening method based on the phospholipase C beta1 (PLCbeta1) knockout mouse as an animal model of schizophrenia with all the major symptoms of the human disease. This knockout mouse exhibits symptoms similar to human schizophrenia such as locomotor hyperactivity, impaired prepulse inhibition of the startle response, lack of barbering and nesting behaviors, socially subordinate status, impaired learning, and lack of type II theta rhythm which has been implicated in working memory. Thus, the knockout mouse of the present invention can be useful as an animal for screening therapeutic drugs against schizophrenia.
Phospholipase C beta1 (PLCbeta1) knockout mice as a model system for testing schizophrenia drugs