Modeling neurodevelopmental cognitive deficits in tasks with cross-species translational validity

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Translational Research

Background:

• Cognitive dysfunction in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and autism often stems from neurodevelopmental issues.
• Current animal models for these disorders are diverse, leading to challenges in translating findings to human treatments.
• Environmental factors and diagnostic boundaries further complicate the development of effective cognitive therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review neurodevelopmental models of psychiatric disorders within cross-species translational cognitive paradigms.
• To explore how the Research Domain Criteria (RDC) project can facilitate translational research by focusing on behavioral and neurobiological measures.
• To enhance understanding of cognitive profiles elicited by different models to aid procognitive treatment development.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on neurodevelopmental models of psychiatric disorders.
• Analysis of cross-species translational cognitive paradigms used in these models.
• Examination of the RDC framework's potential to guide research agnostic of clinical diagnostic boundaries.

Main Results:

• The diversity of models and diagnostic specificity currently limit the translation of procognitive treatments.
• The RDC project offers a framework to classify disorders based on underlying mechanisms, potentially improving model utility.
• Cross-species cognitive paradigms can reveal specific cognitive deficits irrespective of diagnostic labels.

Conclusions:

• A research strategy informed by RDC principles, focusing on cognitive biosignatures, can improve the translational efficacy of animal models.
• Understanding the cognitive profiles elicited by specific manipulations in diverse models is crucial.
• This approach holds promise for developing targeted procognitive treatments for individuals with specific cognitive deficits across various disorders.