Autism spectrum disorder is one of the most widespread neurodevelopmental diseases. The language perception and verbal communication impairments commonly exhibited by individuals with autism suggest the functional abnormalities of their auditory system. In a study led by Institute faculty, Professor Xiaoming Zhou, researchers studied auditory abnormalities in animal models of autism at the behavioral level and further revealed that observed behavioral deficits were associated with cortical changes in morphology and density of dendritic spines and certain types of interneurons. This study suggests that the imbalance of excitation/inhibition in auditory cortical neural network during development contributes to auditory abnormalities in animal models of autism, which provides a theoretical and experimental basis for novel intervention and treatment strategies for autism. This study is published in Neuropharmacology.
Journal Reference:
Cheng, Y., Tang, B., Zhang, G., An, P., Sun, Y., Gao, M., Zhang, Y., Shan, Y., Zhang, J., Liu, Q., Lai, C.S.W., de Villers-Sidani, É., Wang, Y.*, Zhou, X.* (2022). Degraded cortical temporal processing in the valproic acid-induced rat model of autism. Neuropharmacology, 209, 109000.
>> To read the article in Chinese at the School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, click here.