Investigating Cerebellar Correlates of Autism in Model Mice

Autism constitutes a spectrum of clinical symptoms that are caused by a constellation of genetic and environmental causes; thus, to improve early diagnosis of the disorders and provide possible routes to therapy, it has become important to identify common pathophysiologies among autism cases. Recently, attention has turned to an area of the brain that is commonly malformed among autism patients, the cerebellum. This talk will review evidence that cerebellar disruption is sufficient to cause autism symptoms, that cerebellar dysfunction is common in preclinical models of autism, and how the cerebellum might be involved in the development of autism symptoms. This talk will also explore some unanswered questions about the cerebellum and autism and touch on how this subject can be studied at a small, primarily undergraduate institution.

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