title: Animal models of autism with a particular focus on the neural basis of changes in social behaviour: an update article.
abstract: Research on autism has been gaining more and more attention. However, its aetiology is not entirely known and several factors are thought to contribute to the development of this neurodevelopmental disorder. These potential contributing factors range from genetic heritability to environmental effects. A significant number of reviews have already been published on different aspects of autism research as well as focusing on using animal models to help expand current knowledge around its aetiology. However, the diverse range of symptoms and possible causes of autism have resulted in as equally wide variety of animal models of autism. In this update article we focus only on the animal models with neurobehavioural characteristics of social deficit related to autism and present an overview of the animal models with alterations in brain regions, neurotransmitters, or hormones that are involved in a decrease in sociability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Physiology and Ethology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia. olexoval@fns.uniba.sk
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Olexová
authors.forename: Alžbeta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Talarovičová
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lewis-Evans
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Borbélyová
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kršková
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D012919:Social Behavior