Cannabidiol is a behavioral modulator in BTBR mouse model of idiopathic autism.

Introduction: The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has drastically risen over the last two decades and is currently estimated to affect 1 in 36 children in the U.S., according to the center for disease control (CDC).

Serotonin therapies for opioid-induced disordered swallow and respiratory depression.

Opioids are well-known to cause respiratory depression, but despite clinical evidence of dysphagia, the effects of opioids on swallow excitability and motor pattern are unknown. We tested the effects of the clinically relevant opioid buprenorphine on pharyngeal swallow and respiratory drive in male and female rats. We also evaluated the utility of 5-HT agonists (8-OH-DPAT and buspirone) to improve swallowing and breathing following buprenorphine administration.

Serotonin therapies for opioid-induced dysphagia and respiratory depression: sex differences in a rat electromyography model.

Opioids are well-known to cause respiratory depression, but despite clinical evidence of dysphagia, the effects of opioids on swallow excitability and motor pattern are unknown. We sought to test the effects of the clinically-relevant opioid buprenorphine on pharyngeal swallow and respiratory drive in male and female rats. We also evaluated utility of serotonin 5-HT1A agonists (8-OH-DPAT and buspirone) to improve swallowing and breathing outcomes following buprenorphine administration.

Synchronization of inspiratory burst onset along the ventral respiratory column in the neonate mouse is mediated by electrotonic coupling.

Breathing is a singularly robust behavior, yet this motor pattern is continuously modulated at slow and fast timescales to maintain blood-gas homeostasis, while intercalating orofacial behaviors. This functional multiplexing goes beyond the rhythmogenic function that is typically ascribed to medullary respiration-modulated networks and may explain lack of progress in identifying the mechanism and constituents of the respiratory rhythm generator. By recording optically along the ventral respiratory column in medulla, we found convergent evidence that rhythmogenic function is distributed over a dispersed and heterogeneous network that is synchronized by electrotonic coupling across a neuronal syncytium.