Ted Abel, PhD, University of Iowa Health Care (IMAGE)
Caption
Ted Abel, PhD, director of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute at the University of Iowa, led a research study that discovered differences in a brain signaling pathway involved in reward learning and motivation that makes male mice more vulnerable to an autism-causing genetic glitch. The study, published online Oct. 17, 2017, in Molecular Psychiatry, shows that only male mice with an autism-associated genetic deletion have abnormal reward learning behavior. The female mice with the genetic deletion are not affected. Moreover, these sex-specific behavioral differences are accompanied by sex differences in molecular signaling pathways in the striatum brain region.
Credit
Susan McClellen, University of Iowa Health Care Marketing and Communication
Usage Restrictions
None
License
Licensed content