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Organism Models of Autism Spectrum Disorders pp 239–262Cite as

Serotonin Disturbance in Mouse Models of Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 100))

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by abnormal social interactions, communicational deficits, and repetitive, stereotyped, or perseverative behaviors. To understand the pathophysiology of these disorders, it is essential to generate humanized rodent models for ASD that contain morphological abnormalities such as macrocephaly, epilepsy, and neurochemical abnormalities including hyperserotonemia, in addition to behavioral symptoms. The serotonin (5-HT; 5-hydroxytryptamine) signal plays an important role in modulating numerous behaviors such as mood, emotion, sleep, and appetite. Abnormal 5-HT signals, including hyperserotonemia or altered synthesis in the brain, and the effectiveness of 5-HT-related drug treatments for ASD symptoms, have implicated 5-HT in ASDs for many decades. While this circumstantial evidence has been accumulating, a comprehensive understanding of a causative role or mechanism of action of 5-HT in ASD is still far off. Here, we summarize 5-HT features in ASD and rodent models of the disorder. Serotonergic disturbances in models for ASD will provide a clue to understanding ASD.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Daniel DeWoskin for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported in part by KAKENHI, Japan Society of Promotion of Science and Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (KT and TT), Strategic International Cooperative Program (SICP) and CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (TT), Intramural Research Grant (24-12) for Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders of NCNP (TT), and the Takeda Science Foundation (TT).

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  1. RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), S704, Central Bldg, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan

    Kota Tamada & Toru Takumi

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  1. Kota Tamada
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  2. Toru Takumi
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Correspondence to Toru Takumi .

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  1. Inserm GMGF UMR_S 910, Génomique Fonctionnelle INSERM UMR_S 910, Aix Marseille Université, Génétique Médicale, Marseille, France

    Pierre L. Roubertoux

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Tamada, K., Takumi, T. (2015). Serotonin Disturbance in Mouse Models of Autism Spectrum Disorders. In: Roubertoux, P. (eds) Organism Models of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Neuromethods, vol 100. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2250-5_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2250-5_9

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