Topic: CNTNAP2

Auditory processing is widely understood to occur differently in autism, though the exact brain activity underlying these differences is not well understood. The diversity of autism also means there may be multiple ways the network can change to produce a similar behavioural output. We used larval zebrafish to investigate auditory habituation in four genetic models of autism: fmr1, mecp2, scn1lab and cntnap2. Larval zebrafish are optically transparent, enabling whole-brain imaging of neural activity at single-cell resolution using genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP6s. In free-swimming

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is a multifactorial neurodevelopmental pathology, resulting from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. However, the contribution of each of these two components to the onset and/or the evolution of ASD remains undetermined. Hence the aim of our research project is to evaluate the impact of an in utero exposure to a cocktail of fungicide residues at a European regulatory dose on the brain development of a well-established ASD model, the CNTNAP2 gene-deficient mouse. In order to determine whether the chronic exposure to fungicide might increase the s