Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit α-knockout mice exhibit degraded auditory temporal processing.

The gene that encodes the α-subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α-nAChR) has been associated with some autism spectrum disorders and other neurodevelopmental conditions characterized, in part, by auditory and language impairment. These conditions may include auditory processing disorders that represent impaired timing of neural activity, often accompanied by problems understanding speech. Here, we measure timing properties of sound-evoked activity via the auditory brainstem response (ABR) of α-nAChR knockout mice of both sexes and wild-type colony controls.