Excitation/Inhibition Imbalance in Animal Models of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Eunee Lee; Jiseok Lee; Eunjoon Kim

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.05.011

Excitation/Inhibition Imbalance in Animal Models of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Biol Psychiatry. 2017 May 15;81(10):838-847. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.05.011. Epub 2016 May 20.

Authors

Eunee Lee¹, Jiseok Lee², Eunjoon Kim³

Affiliations

¹ Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, Korea.
² Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea.
³ Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, Korea; Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea. Electronic address: kime@kaist.ac.kr.

PMID: 27450033
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.05.011

Abstract

Imbalances between excitation and inhibition in synaptic transmission and neural circuits have been implicated in autism spectrum disorders. Excitation and inhibition imbalances are frequently observed in animal models of autism spectrum disorders, and their correction normalizes key autistic-like phenotypes in these animals. These results suggest that excitation and inhibition imbalances may contribute to the development and maintenance of autism spectrum disorders and represent an important therapeutic target.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders; Circuit; Excitation/inhibition balance; Mouse models; Psychiatric disorders; Synapse.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Autism Spectrum Disorder / pathology*
Autism Spectrum Disorder / physiopathology
Disease Models, Animal*
Humans
Neural Inhibition / physiology*
Synapses / physiology*
Synaptic Transmission / physiology*