Shank2 Mutant Mice Display Hyperactivity Insensitive to Methylphenidate and Reduced Flexibility in Social Motivation, but Normal Social Recognition.

ABSTRACT: Mouse models of autism can be used to study evolutionarily conserved mechanisms underlying behavioral abnormalities in social communication and repetitive behaviors. SHANK genes code for synaptic scaffolding proteins at excitatory synapses and mutations in all SHANK genes have been associated with autism. Here, we present three behavioral aspects of the mutant mice deleted for exon 16 in Shank2. First, we treated Shank2 mutant mice with methylphenidate to rescue the hyperactivity. Our failure to do so suggests that the hyperactivity displayed by Shank2 mutant mice is not related to the one displayed by the typical mouse models of hyperactivity, and might be more closely related to manic-like behaviors. Second, by testing the effect of group housing and so

SUBMITTER: Ey E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6180161 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature