Neurobiology of rodent self-grooming and its value for translational neuroscience

Self-grooming is a complex innate behaviour with an evolutionarily conserved sequencing pattern and is one of the most frequently performed behavioural activities in rodents. In this Review, we discuss the neurobiology of rodent self-grooming, and we highlight studies of rodent models of neuropsychiatric disorders-including models of autism spectrum disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder-that have assessed self-grooming phenotypes. We suggest that rodent self-grooming may be a useful measure of repetitive behaviour in such models, and therefore of value to translational psychiatry. Assessment of rodent self-grooming may also be useful for understanding the neural circuits that are involved in complex sequential patterns of action.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant NS025529)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant HD028341)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant MH060379

Common Long Human Inversion Polymorphism on Chromosome 8p

Abstract In an analysis of human crossover interference, we identified apparent triple recombination events, in a short region on chromosome 8p, on the maternally-derived chromosomes in four individuals (two from each of two families). While this may have indicated an error in marker order, the inverted order was inconsistent with recombination events in other individuals. We were thus led to the hypothesis of an inversion polymorphism in the region, which was subsequently confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). The inversion spans approximately 12 cM on the female genetic map and 2.5 – 5.3 Mb on the physical map. The allele frequency of the inverted order (D8S1130 telomeric; D8S351 centromeric) in 50 individuals of European ancestry was 21%. This is only the second known common, long inversion polymorphism in the human genome

Common long human inversion polymorphism on chromosome 8p

IMS Lecture Notes-Monograph Serie