Animal Models of Autistic-like Behavior in Rodents: A Scoping Review and Call for a Comprehensive Scoring System.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience and Behavioral Science
• Animal Modeling
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Background:

• Accurate animal models are crucial for advancing human disease research, particularly for complex neuropsychiatric conditions like autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• Translating human behaviors associated with ASD, such as social interaction deficits, communication impairments, and repetitive behaviors, into measurable animal phenotypes is essential.
• Existing animal models often lack standardized methods for assessing the severity of ASD-like symptoms, hindering comparative studies and therapeutic development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the need for standardized assessment tools in animal models of ASD.
• To propose a novel scoring system for evaluating the severity of autistic-like behaviors in animal models.
• To facilitate more accurate and consistent research into the etiology, pathogenesis, and treatment of ASD.

Main Methods:

• Review and synthesis of existing neurobehavioral and neurological tests applicable to rodent models of ASD.
• Identification of key behavioral characteristics of ASD, including social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviors, along with associated impairments.
• Development of a proposed scoring system designed to quantify the severity of these ASD-like behaviors in animal models.

Main Results:

• Established that appropriate animal models must exhibit core ASD-like behavioral features: impaired social interactions, communication deficits, and restricted, repetitive behaviors.
• Highlighted the necessity of incorporating assessments for additional impairments like somatosensory, motor, and memory deficits.
• Proposed a scoring system to systematically evaluate the severity of multiple behavioral deviations in animal models, mirroring human assessment approaches.

Conclusions:

• A standardized scoring system is vital for the accurate assessment and comparison of animal models of ASD.
• The proposed scoring system aims to improve the translational validity of animal models by quantifying behavioral severity.
• Refined animal models with robust behavioral assessments will accelerate the understanding and treatment of autism spectrum disorder.