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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by two major diagnostic criteria - persistent deficits in social communication and interaction, and the presence of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior (RRBs). Evidence from both human and animal model studies of ASD suggests that alteration of striatal circuits, which mediate motor learning, action selection, and habit formation, may contribute to the manifestation of RRBs. CNTNAP2 is a syndromic ASD risk gene, and loss of function of Cntnap2 in mice is associated with RRBs. How the loss of Cntnap2 impacts striatal neuron function is largely unknown. In this study, we utilized Cntnap2-/- mice to test whether altered striatal neuron activity contributes to aberrant motor behaviors relevant to ASD. We find that Cntnap2-/- mice exhibit enhanced cortical drive of direct pathway striatal projection neurons (dSPNs). This enhanced drive is due to increased intrinsic excitability of dSPNs, which make them more responsive to cortical inputs. We find that Cntnap2-/- mice exhibit spontaneous repetitive behaviors, increased motor routine learning, perseveration, and cognitive inflexibility. Increased corticostriatal drive may therefore contribute to the acquisition of repetitive, inflexible behaviors in Cntnap2 mice.
Pubmed ID: 40689867
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Software package as distribution of ImageJ and ImageJ2 together with Java, Java3D and plugins organized into coherent menu structure. Used to assist research in life sciences.
View all literature mentionsImaris provides range of capabilities for working with three dimensional images. Uses flexible editing and processing functions, such as interactive surface rendering and object slicing capabilities. And output to standard TIFF, Quicktime and AVI formats. Imaris accepts virtually all image formats that are used in confocal microscopy and many of those used in wide-field image acquisition.
View all literature mentionsA commercial antibody supplier which supplies primary and secondary antibodies, biochemicals, proteins, peptides, lysates, immunoassays and other kits.
View all literature mentionsVideo tracking system used to automate testing in a variety of behavioral apparatus. ANY-maze can automatically track the tail, head, or body of a test animal in up to 16 pieces of apparatus. The software can record live images or digital files with different camera types and save the data in multiple formats. ANY-maze contains built in statistical tests and standard measures for distance, speed, mobility, duration, etc.
View all literature mentionsOpen source software application for laser scanning microscopy, electrophysiology, laser scanning photostimulation, and other physiological methods focused on neurobiology. Used to control laser scanning microscopes without need for custom data acquisition hardware. Standard data acquisition boards are used to acquire data and control laser scanning. The tasks of signal integration and image processing are placed on the computer CPU. Multiple versions of ScanImage are available, each with their own features.
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