ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT AND SOCIAL RECOGNITION IN PTEN+/- MICE

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be can be caused by numerous different genetic abnormalities, one of which is Pten haploinsufficiency. There is some evidence to suggest that environmental enrichment can decrease the symptoms of ASD and Pten mutant mice have been shown to have altered social behaviors. Therefore, Pten and WT mice were raised either in standard or environmentally enriched cages and these mice were then tested for social recognition. WT females in both environmentally enriched and standard cages and Pten males raised in environmentally enriched cages can recognize and distinguish between other mice. Pten females raised in both standard and environmentally enriched cages, and Pten males in standard cages did not show statistically significant recognition. WT males in both environmentally enriched and standard cages also lacked significant recognition. This outcome indicates that either the experimental protocol should be re-examined or that more mice are required for the experiment.