Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 May 2:72:11.22.1-11.22.21.
doi: 10.1002/cptx.19.

Behavioral Phenotyping for Autism Spectrum Disorders in Mice

Yu-Chi Chang  1 , Toby B Cole  1   2 , Lucio G Costa  1   3
Affiliations

Behavioral Phenotyping for Autism Spectrum Disorders in Mice

Yu-Chi Chang et al. Curr Protoc Toxicol. .

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) represents a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by alterations in three behavioral symptom domains: Social interactions, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors. Increasing prevalence of ASD in recent years suggests that exposure to environmental toxicants may be critical in modulating etiology of this disease. As clinical diagnosis of autism still relies on behavioral evaluation, it is important to be able to assess similar behavioral traits in animal models, to provide biological plausibility of associations between environmental exposures and ASD. Rodents naturally exhibit a large number of behaviors that can be linked to similar behaviors in human. In this unit, behavioral tests are described that are relevant to the domains affected in ASD. For the repetitive domain, the T-maze spontaneous alternation test and marble burying test are described. For the communication domain, neonatal ultrasonic vocalization and olfactory habituation test toward social and non-social odor are described. Finally, for the sociability domain, the three-chambered social preference test and the reciprocal interaction test are presented. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders; behavior; mouse; obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); olfactory communication; social behavior; ultrasonic vocalization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Marble burying test
Screen shots taken at beginning (left), middle (center), and the end (right) of 30 minute trial period (video recorded).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Ultrasonic vocalization
Proportions of each call category expressed as USV profile in PND6 male and female C57BL/6J mice.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Olfactory habituation test
The habituation response in the olfactory test is defined as decreasing level of interest in subsequent presentation (three in this study) of the same odor. Results are expressed as mean +/− SE. Statistical significance determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test (*p<0.05; **p<0.01).
Figure 4
Figure 4. Three chamber test
A. Apparatus set-up for the sociability phase of social preference test. B. Apparatus set-up for the social novelty phase of social preference test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Allen JL, et al. Developmental neurotoxicity of inhaled ambient ultrafine particle air pollution: Parallels with neuropathological and behavioral features of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Neurotoxicology. 2016 in press. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amodeo DA, Jones JH, Sweeney JA, Ragozzino ME. Differences in BTBR T+ tf/J and C57BL/6J mice on probabilistic reversal learning and stereotyped behaviors. Behav Brain Res. 2012;227:64–72. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Andersen SL, Greene-Colozzi EA, Sonntag KC. A novel, multiple symptom model of obsessive-compulsive-like behaviors in animals. Biol Psychiatry. 2010;68:741–747. - PubMed
    1. Angoa-Pérez M, Kane MJ, Briggs DI, Francescutti DM, Kuhn DM. Marble burying and nestlet shredding as tests of repetitive, compulsive-like behaviors in mice. J Vis Exp. 2013;82:50978. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arakawa H, Blanchard DC, Arakawa K, Dunlap C, Blanchard RJ. Scent marking behavior as an odorant communication in mice. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2008;32:1236–1248. - PMC - PubMed