Intact and impaired executive abilities in the BTBR mouse model of autism.

BTBR T+tf/J (BTBR) inbred mice are frequently used as a model of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as they display social deficits and repetitive behaviors that resemble the symptoms of the human syndrome. Since deficits on tasks that measure cognitive (executive) control are also reliable phenotypes in ASD, we wanted to determine whether executive abilities were compromised in the mouse model. BTBR mice were trained on two visual discrimination paradigms requiring differing degrees of cognitive control.