Memory alterations in a mouse model of autism

MONTECINO LW; CAMPOLONGO M; DEPINO A; DE LA FUENTE V

Congreso; 2nd FALAN Congress; 2016

FALAN

The difficulties in social interactions are a central factor in the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).Numerous reports that study this general developmental disorder try not only to elucidate the cellular and molecular pathways altered, but also to identify possible therapies to reverse these social symptoms. Although there are other symptoms that can be associated to this disorder, they have been only scarcely studied. In particular, signs of different levels of mental retardation in autistic individuals have not been exhaustively evaluated in current animal models. The main aim of this project is to study the mnesic capacity of a mouse model of autism, and to evaluate the effects of social enrichment over these capacities. We follow the hypothesisthat individuals diagnosed with ASD present not only deficits in sociability but also in the storage of new information, and we stand on previous results that show that the cellular mechanisms affected by ASD are also important for other physiological effects such as memory formation. It has been previously shown that mice prenatally exposed to valproic acid (VPA) at gestational day 12.5 (GD 12.5) show reduced social interaction in adulthood. Using this mouse model we are employing different behavioral tasks to assess working memory, object recognition memory and fear conditioning memory. Preliminary results show that autistic mice show better working memory than controls, albeit no differences in recognition memory.