ANC Workshop: Joseph Cronin

Title: Comparison of neural population coding and plasticity in SynGap+/- and wild type mice

Abstract: Intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have genetic components, with a strong contribution of genes involved in regulating neural activity. SynGap+/- mice are established ID/ASD animal models of Fragile X Syndrome and SynGap haploinsufficiency, the 2 most common monogenic syndromes. This talk will discuss results from a recent Ca2+ imaging dataset from a set of monocular deprivation experiments carried out on SynGap+/- and wild type mice. Statistical modelling of neural activity was used to analyse functional circuit-remodelling. Our results suggest that neural activity and plasticity are both altered in SynGap+/- animals, providing one of the first characterisations of ID/ASD phenotypes at the network level.