| Popis: |
Psychiatric diseases encompass some of the most complex and debilitating afflictions known to man. Common to several of these diseases, namely autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and schizophrenia, are impairments in socio-communicative behavior. These impairments have been proposed as candidate endophenotypes of disease processes, being present in prodromal and active stages of disease, as well as in undiagnosed relatives. The genetic bases for these diseases and associated socio-communicative endophenotypes make them highly amenable to study using mouse models. In this review, socio-communicative endophenotypes of two psychiatric diseases—ASDs and schizophrenia—are discussed and translated to measurable behavior in mice. Social interaction and ultrasonic vocalization behavioral paradigms serve as reliable methods for assessing social and communicative functioning in mice, respectively. Several of these paradigms will be overviewed alongside evidence of abnormalities in genetic mouse models of psychiatric disease. |
