Recent study on serotonin's role in ASD

February 26, 2011

Some of you have most likely already read this but I am pasting a copy of a

recent study on serotonin's role in asd:

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A new study has suggested that serotonin plays a vital role in autism

spectrum disorders.

In labs at the UT

-1.htm> Health Science Center San , scientists are studying strains

of mice that inherently mimic the repetitive and socially impaired behaviors

present in autism spectrum disorders.

Georgianna Gould, research assistant professor of physiology in the Graduate

-1.htm> School of Biomedical Sciences and colleagues have shown that a

medication called buspirone improved the social behaviors of mice.

Some genetic variations result in diminished transmission of serotonin

between neurons. Buspirone increased transmission by partially mimicking the

effects of serotonin at cellular sites called receptors.

Social interaction behaviors of the mice were measured by placing them in a

three-chamber social interaction test and positioning a 'stranger' mouse in

one of the chambers.

Buspirone-treated mice spent more time in the chamber with the stranger

mouse than untreated mice and more time sniffing the stranger.

" No animal model is completely characteristic of humans, and we're far from

saying that buspirone is a treatment for behaviors of autistic people. But

this does offer further proof that serotonin is involved in a significant

proportion of autism cases, " said Gould.

The new findings appeared in the Journal of Neurochemistry.

Source-ANI

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