unusual repertoire of vocalizations in the btbr t+tfj mouse model of autism不寻常的声音在btbr t + tfj孤独症的小鼠模型.pdf

Unusual Repertoire of Vocalizations in the BTBR T+tf/J Mouse Model of Autism 1,2 1 2 1 Maria Luisa Scattoni *, Shruti U. Gandhy , Laura Ricceri , Jacqueline N. Crawley 1 Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America, 2 Behavioural Neurosciences Section, Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanita’, Rome, Italy Abstract BTBR T+ tf/J (BTBR) is an inbred mouse strain that displays social abnormalities and repetitive behaviors analogous to the first and third diagnostic symptoms of autism. Here we investigate ultrasonic vocalizations in BTBR, to address the second diagnostic symptom of autism, communication deficits. As compared to the commonly used C57BL/6J (B6) strain, BTBR pups called more loudly and more frequently when separated from their mothers and siblings. Detailed analysis of ten categories of calls revealed an unusual pattern in BTBR as compared to B6. BTBR emitted high levels of harmonics, two- syllable, and composite calls, but minimal numbers of chevron-shaped syllables, upward, downward, and short calls. Because body weights were higher in BTBR than B6 pups, one possible explanation was that larger thoracic size was responsible for the louder calls and different distribution of syllable categories. To test this possibility, we recorded separation calls from FVB/NJ, a strain with body weights similar to BTBR, and 129X1/SvJ, a strain with body weights similar to B6. BTBR remained the outlier on number of calls, displaying low numbers of complex, upward, chevron, short, and frequency steps calls, along with