Looking Under the Hood of Convergent Behavioral Deficits in Schizophrenia and Autism

Molecular genetic strategy for finding de novo mutations causing common disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.

This article describes the procedures for conducting a verbal operant analysis (VOA), calculating the stimulus control ratio equation (SCoRE), and developing individualized verbal behavior treatment plans, specifically significant to address the deficits characteristic of...

Here, we present a protocol to quantify nest building behavior in mice, which is known to be impaired in several neurological disorders and diseases. This protocol examines the utility of four materials and offers the opportunity to quantify the rater agreement in scoring, improving the validity and reliability of the...

Source: Laboratories of Jonas T. Kaplan and Sarah I. Gimbel—University of Southern California
Attention, working-memory, planning, impulse control, inhibition, and mental flexibility are important components of human cognition that are often referred to as executive functions. Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that is characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviors. It is a disorder that lasts a lifetime, and is thought to...

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with impaired social and communicative behavior and the emergence of repetitive behavior. For studying the interrelation between ASD genes and behavioral deficits in the Drosophila model, five behavioral paradigms are described in this paper for assaying social spacing, aggression, courtship, grooming, and habituation behavior.

The goal of the behavioral tests presented here is to detect functional deficits in rats after traumatic brain injury. Four specific tests are presented that detect deficits in behaviors to reflect the damage to specific brain areas at times extending to one year after...