Training Schedule Affects Operant Responding Independent of Motivation in the Neuroligin-3 R451C Mouse Model of Autism.

ABSTRACT: Autism affects ~1 in 100 people and arises from the interplay between rare genetic changes and the environment. Diagnosis is based on social and communication difficulties, as well as the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviours. Autism aetiology is complex. However, the social motivation hypothesis proposes that an imbalance in the salience of social over non-social stimuli contributes over time to the autism phenotype. Accordingly, motivational dysfunction in autism is widespread, and human imaging data has identified broad impairments to reward processing. The R451C mutation of the neuroligin-3 gene is one such rare genetic change. Knock-in mice harbouring this mutation (NL3) exhibit a range of autism-related phenotypes, including impaired sociability and social motivation. Howe

SUBMITTER: Dingwall R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12356647 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature