Lack of central serotonin neurons produces lowered anxiety and excessive grooming in mice
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Authors
Andre, Jessica
Issue Date
2023-03-24
Type
Other
Language
en_US
Keywords
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , OCD , Lmxlb-KO
Alternative Title
Abstract
Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and related conditions exhibit repetitive patterns of behavior and thought. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRis) produce symptomatic improvement in many cases. Excessive or compulsive grooming has been proposed as a behavioral model of the repetitive behaviors seen in OCD and related disorders and SSRis have been shown to reduce excessive grooming in two proposed animal models (1,2); but how these compounds help, both clinically and in the animal models, is poorly understood. A transgenic mouse was developed that lacks serotonin neurons in the central nervous system; this is achieved by cell-type specific knockout of Lmxl b, which is necessary for the development of serotoninergic neurons (3). I observed grooming in these mice at baseline and conducted a battery of behavioral tasks to assay phenotypes of potential relevance to OCD and related disorders in a small pilot study. In an initial pilot experiment, knockouts exhibited increased spray-induced grooming. These pilot data suggest that the Lmxl b mice have excessive grooming providing evidence that changes in serotonergic modulation in the central nervous system can lead to the development of OCD-like behavioral abnormalities, as well as to their pharmacological mitigation.
Description
UB RISE 2023, School of Arts and Sciences/Department of Psychology, College of Science of Society, University of Bridgeport.