Research reportRats selectively bred for low levels of play-induced 50 kHz vocalizations as a model for Autism Spectrum Disorders: A role for NMDA receptors
Section snippets
Vocal communication in mammals relevant to autism
Vocal communications in mammalian species, especially emotion related forms, have been at the center of research interest for decades because of its complex neural control, biological importance of transfer of information and regulation of behavior, as well as pertinence to the question of their social-emotional processes [1], [2], [3], [4] as well as human speech and language evolved [5], [6], [7]. Some of the early work on the neurochemical control of separation-calls of mammals and birds,
Selective breeding for low and high emission of appetitive 50 kHz vocalizations
Selective breeding of Long–Evans rats for low and high levels of play-induced 50 kHz vocalizations was based on heterospecific play of juvenile rats with the human hand (dubbed “tickling”) [33], [36], [62]. Tickling play, which resembles natural rough-and-tumble play of juveniles, was found to have highly rewarding properties for rats [62] and caused emission of high numbers of 50 kHz vocalizations during the play. Rats were subjected to 2-min tickle play tests consisting of four cycles of 15 s
NMDA receptors play a functional role in autism
Among many transmitter systems, glutamatergic NMDA receptors have been implicated in etiopathology of several neuropsychiatric disorders including neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD [75]. The NMDA receptor family was also identified as a significant ASD hub [12], i.e., genes having a greater number of protein-protein interactions with other autism candidate genes. Recently, the glutamatergic receptor family, particularly N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDAR), have become of interest as
In Conclusion: autistic-like animal phenotypes and drug discovery.
Future developments in preclinical modeling of psychiatric disorders will need to take the affective feelings of animals ever more seriously, since the data-base is substantial that all animals homologously share certain fundamental emotional feelings that evolved long before the human line diverged from other mammals [10], [93]. Although it is foolish to suggest that these ancestral feelings are identical across species, the evolutionary continuities at neuroanatomical, neurochemical and basic
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by grants from the Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust (Chicago, IL) to JRM, Hope for Depression Research Foundation to JSB, JRM, SMB, JP and NIMH R01-MH094835 to JSB. We would like to thank the Northwestern University Behavioral Phenotyping Core for it's assistance, and Ms Mary Schmidt for her expert technical assistance.
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