MOSCOW, July 10For the first time, scientists from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the participation of foreign colleagues, managed to prove the connection between autism spectrum disorders and features in the brain reward system. The results were published in the Vavilov Journal of Genetics and Breeding.
According to WHO statistics, about 1% of children in the world suffer from autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Disorders of this type may be accompanied by mental retardation, epilepsy, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or, on the contrary, a very high level of intelligence and even talents for certain areas of activity. Interest in ASD in the world is steadily growing.
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The main symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are difficulties in social communication, stereotyped behavior, non-standard reactions to external stimuli, frequent aggression towards oneself and others, and increased attention to small details.
Specialists from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICiG SB RAS) were able to experimentally test the hypothesis that autism is related to disorders in the reward system in the brain.
“Many scientific groups are trying to establish the nature of the occurrence of autism in humans. the disease remains practically incurable, and the causes of its occurrence are not fully understood,» said Sergey Amstislavsky, head of the cryopreservation and reproductive technologies sector of the ICG SB RAS.
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The reward system of the brain is a complex of structures of the nervous system that are involved in the control of behavior. The most important role in this system is played by the neurotransmitter dopamine, the release of which a person feels satisfaction.
From the point of view of genetics, genetic models of the disease created on mice are of particular interest for studying the relationship between the reward system of the brain and the ASD. url=»https://ria.ru/20230406/nauka-1863276703.html» data->
In particular, one of these models is a line of mice in which the Clstn2 gene is suppressed scientists said. It is associated with verbal memory, as well as with semantic and cognitive characteristics. Moreover, analysis of gene copy number variations in people with autism also revealed a mutation in the Clstn2 gene.
«We have shown that in animals with a suppressed Clstn2 gene, the dopaminergic reward system differs from conditionally normal animals. We studied this issue on various genetic models of autism created on mice, which allows us to speak about the high reliability of the results,» said Amstislavsky.
The researchers observed the manifestations in model animals of the so-called social motivation, that is, the desire to spend time with relatives. According to experts, in ASD, this kind of motivation noticeably weakens, which causes the symptoms of pathology. //ria.ru/20210406/dofamin-1727063233.html» data->
«In male mice modeling ASD, a craving for solitude was found. In the midbrain, in the ventral tegmetum, which is part of the reward system, in such individuals a high density of dopamine neurons was observed — significantly more than in mice in the control group,» Amstislavsky noted.
As the scientists emphasized, the results obtained in mice cannot be directly transferred to humans , but thanks to the data obtained, it became possible to better understand the nature of the problem and get closer to its solution.
Specialists from the University of Toronto (Canada) took part in the work.