Autism and associated gene mutations can be studied with genetic mouse models. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of these animal models quantifies the impact of genetics on brain morphology. Using MRI, three genetic mouse models of autism were imaged: Neuroligin 3 R451C knock-in, Methyl-CpG binding protein-2 308-truncation and Integrin β-3 knock-out. Morphological differences were identified using a newly developed MRI mouse cerebellum atlas. The results show all three genes to alter cerebellar anatomy. Each studied gene affected a unique set of cerebellar structures. I hypothesize that the results and known behavioural phenotypes of the models are linked, with anatomy contributing to specific behaviours. In the future work section, a surface-based analysis method is presented to investigate the variance in cerebellum foliation across disease models and inbred strains. This work shows that autism risk-genes alter distinct regions of the cerebellum.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/42923 |
| Date | 28 November 2013 |
| Creators | Steadman, Patrick Edward |
| Contributors | Lerch, Jason |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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