מצגת באנגלית לתואר שני
Introduction: Autism, Oxytocin, Cntnap2
Paper:Exogenous and evoked oxytocin restores social behavior in the Cntnap2 mouse model of autism
Methods
:Results
1. Oxytocin rescues social behavior in KO mice
2. KO mice have less OXT-expressing neurons
3. Stimulation of OXT neurons in the PVN rescues social behavior
4. Postnatal administration of OXT has long-lasting behavioral effects
Discussion – Can Oxytocin rescue social behavior in ASD patients?

• Heterogeneity in ASD
• No one gene is responsible for more than 1% of cases
• In animal models, monogenic mouse models have good validity, but few have predicative validity for human therapeutics.

oxcitocin:

• Supraoptic nuclei: OXT-expressing neurons project mainly to the posterior pituitary gland. From there OXT is released to the blood stream.
• Paraventricular nuclei: OXT-expressing neurons project to several brain regions including the amygdala, hippocampus and frontal cortex.