TY - JOUR

T1 - Abnormal empathy-like pro-social behaviour in the valproic acid model of autism spectrum disorder

AU - Fontes-Dutra, Mellanie

AU - Della-Flora Nunes, Gustavo

AU - Santos-Terra, Júlio

AU - Souza-Nunes, Walquíria

AU - Bauer-Negrini, Guilherme

AU - Hirsch, Mauro Mozael

AU - Green, Lily

AU - Riesgo, Rudimar

AU - Gottfried, Carmem

AU - Bambini-Junior, Victorio

N1 - Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2019/5/17

Y1 - 2019/5/17

N2 - Impairments in social behaviour are a defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals with ASD also usually present some difficulty to recognize or understand another person's feelings. Therefore, it is possible that altered empathy processing could hinder typical social interaction in ASD. Recently, robust paradigms confirmed that rodents show primordial forms of empathy-like behaviour. Therefore, in this work, we used one of these new protocols to test pro-social behaviour in the rat model of autism induced by Valproic Acid (VPA). We also evaluated possible beneficial effects of Resveratrol, since it can prevent social deficits in the VPA model. Rats were tested on their ability to open a restrainer to release a trapped conspecific. Exposure to VPA precludes the timely manifestation of this empathy-like behaviour, but does not affect its continuation after its first expression. We also found a significant correlation between average speed during the first day of test and becoming an Opener. Similarly, rats able to open the restrainer on the first day had an increased likelihood of repeating this behaviour in the later days of the testing programme. We did not find any protective effects of Resveratrol. Further investigation of empathy-like behaviour in the VPA model and in other models of autism could help to clarify the behavioural and neural processes underpinning the basic aspects of empathy alterations in autistic individuals.

AB - Impairments in social behaviour are a defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals with ASD also usually present some difficulty to recognize or understand another person's feelings. Therefore, it is possible that altered empathy processing could hinder typical social interaction in ASD. Recently, robust paradigms confirmed that rodents show primordial forms of empathy-like behaviour. Therefore, in this work, we used one of these new protocols to test pro-social behaviour in the rat model of autism induced by Valproic Acid (VPA). We also evaluated possible beneficial effects of Resveratrol, since it can prevent social deficits in the VPA model. Rats were tested on their ability to open a restrainer to release a trapped conspecific. Exposure to VPA precludes the timely manifestation of this empathy-like behaviour, but does not affect its continuation after its first expression. We also found a significant correlation between average speed during the first day of test and becoming an Opener. Similarly, rats able to open the restrainer on the first day had an increased likelihood of repeating this behaviour in the later days of the testing programme. We did not find any protective effects of Resveratrol. Further investigation of empathy-like behaviour in the VPA model and in other models of autism could help to clarify the behavioural and neural processes underpinning the basic aspects of empathy alterations in autistic individuals.

KW - Animals

KW - Autism Spectrum Disorder/chemically induced

KW - Disease Models, Animal

KW - Empathy/physiology

KW - Female

KW - Interpersonal Relations

KW - Male

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects

KW - Rats

KW - Rats, Wistar

KW - Resveratrol/pharmacology

KW - Social Behavior

KW - Valproic Acid/adverse effects

U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.01.034

DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.01.034

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30682436

VL - 364

SP - 11

EP - 18

JO - Behavioural Brain Research

JF - Behavioural Brain Research

SN - 0166-4328

ER -