Despite some innate limitations, animal models are a potent investigative tool when used to model specific symptoms of a disorder. For example, MK-801, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, is used as a pharmacological tool to induce symptoms found in some neuropsychiatric disorders. However, a close examination of literature suggests that the application window of MK-801 doses is relatively narrow between individual behavioral paradigms, necessitating careful characterization of the evoked behavioral aberrations and the doses used to induce them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSex is an important factor in understanding the clinical presentation, management, and developmental trajectory of children with neuropsychiatric disorders. While much is known about the clinical and neurobehavioral profiles of males with neuropsychiatric disorders, surprisingly little is known about females in this respect. Animal models may provide detailed mechanistic information about sex differences in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in terms of manifestation, disease progression, and development of therapeutic options.
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