Hyopil Kim, Junehee Son, Hyoungseob Yoo, Hakyoo Kim, Jihae Oh, DaeHee Han, Yoon Hwang, Bong-Kiun Kaang
A primary characteristic of autism, which is a neurodevelopmental disorder, is impaired social interaction and communication. Furthermore, patients with autism frequently show abnormal social recognition. In mouse models of autism, social recognition is usually assessed by examining same-sex social behavior using various tests, such as the three-chamber test. However, no studies have examined the ability of male mice with autism to recognize the estrous cycle of female partners. In this study, we investigated the sexual behaviors, especially mounting and ultrasonic vocal communication (USV), of BTBR T+ tf/J (BTBR) mice, which are used as a well-known mouse model of autism, when they encountered estrus or diestrus female mice...
August 2016: Experimental Neurobiology