36,75,76 Vocal communication is assayed by recording ultrasonic vocalizations emitted during social interactions77 (Figure 2). Number of calls and their properties are subsequently scored by investigators. Software is available for quantifying some of the Selleckchem PD 332991 simpler parameters. Different patterns of ultrasonic vocalizations are emitted by separated pups, adult males interacting with estrus females or urine from estrus females, adult females interacting with each other, and adult male residents in response to an intruder.72,78 Figure

2. (a) Ultrasonic vocalizations are recorded Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in adult mice engaged in social interactions, using an ultrasonic microphone and specialized software. Photograph by Dr Jennifer Brielmaier, contributed by the author. (b) Ultrasonic vocalization call categories … The anatomical and neurobiological substrates of olfactory and ultrasonic communication in mice do not precisely map onto the biological substrates of language and visual social communication in humans. In addition, considerably more work is Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical needed Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to fully understand the communication value of ultrasonic vocalizations in mice. At present, the existing tasks offer a reasonable start for discovering mechanistic similarities between species. Face validity of these mouse social interaction and communication tasks to the tendencies of people with autism to engage in less social approach and interaction, and

to respond appropriately to complex social cues, remains inferential. We cannot know what Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical a mouse is thinking, feeling, or intending, but only the quantifiable external expressions of those internai states. Third diagnostic category Mice with various genetic mutations exhibit spontaneous motor stereotypies such as circling and vertical jumping, and spontaneous repetitive behaviors such as long bouts of self-grooming and excessive digging in the litter (Figure 3). Assays generally focus on the number of

bouts of the behavior, or the cumulative time engaged in the behavior, during a defined test session of 10 minutes or longer.40,58,65,79-81 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Restricted interests, insistence on sameness, and special interests Cediranib (AZD2171) are more challenging diagnostic features of autism to model in mice. Perseveration of spatial habits, such as difficulty in learning a new location of a re inforcer in a T-maze or water maze after the initial learning of a first location, has been employed with some success in mouse models of autism.82,83 Figure 3. (a) Unusually high levels of spontaneous repetitive self grooming, in which the normal pattern of grooming behaviors are present but the bouts of grooming are strikingly prolonged, are measured over a 10-minute session in which the subject mouse is in … Associated symptoms Established, standardized tests are available in the voluminous behavioral neuroscience literature for most of the associated symptoms of autism.