| First Author | Piochon C | Year | 2014 |
| Journal | Nat Commun | Volume | 5 |
| Pages | 5586 | PubMed ID | 25418414 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:225285 | Mgi Id | MGI:5692349 |
| Doi | 10.1038/ncomms6586 | Citation | Piochon C, et al. (2014) Cerebellar plasticity and motor learning deficits in a copy-number variation mouse model of autism. Nat Commun 5:5586 |
| abstractText | A common feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the impairment of motor control and learning, occurring in a majority of children with autism, consistent with perturbation in cerebellar function. Here we report alterations in motor behaviour and cerebellar synaptic plasticity in a mouse model (patDp/+) for the human 15q11-13 duplication, one of the most frequently observed genetic aberrations in autism. These mice show ASD-resembling social behaviour deficits. We find that in patDp/+ mice delay eyeblink conditioning--a form of cerebellum-dependent motor learning--is impaired, and observe deregulation of a putative cellular mechanism for motor learning, long-term depression (LTD) at parallel fibre-Purkinje cell synapses. Moreover, developmental elimination of surplus climbing fibres--a model for activity-dependent synaptic pruning--is impaired. These findings point to deficits in synaptic plasticity and pruning as potential causes for motor problems and abnormal circuit development in autism. |
