Models of Autism and Methods for Assessing Autistic-Like Behavior in Animals

Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), including autism, constitute a wide range of states and are associated with deficit to social communications, limited interests, and stereotypical behavior. The development of translational medicine and personalized approaches to the treatment of ASD combine the efforts of clinicians and basic scientists and push the direction of studies towards the molecular and genetic mechanisms of developmental disorders and the search for new marker molecules for targeted correction of these states, which are impossible without use of models of ASD in animals, especially rodents. This review describes the key genetic and pharmacological models of ASD in rodents which are actively utilized in experimental studies, along with the most important behavioral tests for assessing deficits in social behavior, stereotypy, and autism-like states in experimental animals.