Understanding autism spectrum disorders with animal models: applications, insights, and perspectives
Li Zhu, 云南大学生物医药研究院，云南 昆明650500，中国, Yuanxiang Zhu, Lijun Gu, Ying Cheng
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is typically characterized by common deficits in social skills and repetitive/stereotyped behaviors. It is widely accepted that genetic and environmental factors solely or in combination cause ASD. However, the underlying pathogenic mechanism is unclear due to its highly heterogeneous nature. To better understand the pathogenesis of ASD, various animal models have been generated, which can be generally divided into genetic, environment-induced, and idiopathic animal models. In this review, we summarize the common animals used for ASD study and then discuss the applications, clinical insights, as well as challenges and prospects of current ASD animal models.