Can Animals Have Autism?
Recent research studies have noted that “mutant mice with an autism gene display striking learning and memory skills mirroring those seen in human ’savants’”; the September 6th Science Daily further suggests that a mouse model of autism spectrum disorders has been developed:
Mice with this mutation show a similar type of social impairment and cognitive enhancement as the type seen in some people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). ASDs are enigmatic cognitive disorders that impair a patient’s social interactions, but do not necessarily limit their intelligence.
The scientists said the mice they developed may represent an important advance in modeling autism spectrum disorders in mice and offer researchers a new tool for understanding how specific defects in neural development may lead to autism.
The genetically engineered mice, who have been shown to have “enhanced learning and memory skills” due to having a “mutant version of a gene called neuroligin-3″ are being studied at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Neuroligin-3 is involved in the functioning of synapses.
Elsewhere, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, researchers are investigating drosphilia—the fruit fly—to study another protein, neurexin. The researchers deleted the gene for neurexin in the fruit flies and found that they had “trouble moving”; further investigation revealed that the flies were missing half of their synapses:
What was left were deformed, making it impossible for them to send out all the chemical signals that are necessary.
The next step in the research, which is already underway, is going to be to find out what proteins neurexin binds to as well as how they interact with each other and what the exact order of events is that result in the successful organization of the synapses within the nerve cells. They hope that eventually the research will lead to understanding the role of neurexin in functions like learning and memory and thereby finally understanding how defects in this one protein cause disorders such as autism.
As Mike Stanton noted in a post about these research studies,
Drosophila are an important part of the biological research toolkit. Their relatively simple genome and rapid reproductive cycle have made them a favourite of biologists researching the mechanics of evolution. But autistic fruit flies? Autism is a complex social disorder. Fruit flies are not complex social beings.
Mice, too, are not “complex social beings”; how one might diagnose a mouse with autism is not exactly clear. A non-verbal mouse is nothing too unusual. Genetically engineering animals to have some autistic traits (as per DSM critieria) can begin to tell us how some things about the interaction between genes and synaptic functioning in the brain. But autism (the human kind, at any rate) is much more than having certain learning and memory skills, or certain kinds of synaptics connections.
Is autism something particularly distinct to humans?
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POSTED IN: Animals, Genetics, Neuroscience, Science
16 opinions for Can Animals Have Autism?
gettingthere
Sep 7, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Curiouser and curiouser! First lion pride mothers, now autistic flies and mice. What’s the fly equivalent of flapping or mouse echolalia?
Kristina Chew, PhD
Sep 7, 2007 at 12:54 pm
How might the human ear learn to hear the difference between a squeak and a squeak?
Joseph
Sep 7, 2007 at 2:34 pm
I think it can be seen in one of two ways: (1) Animals are never autistic; or (2) All animals are autistic. They are contradictory, but they both are plausible views. The view that it’s possible to model autism (behavioraly) in animals, on the other hand, borders on the absurd in my opinion.
There are animals that have behavior *reminiscent* of autism, however. Not just some of the member of the species, but all of them, or all in one gender:
http://autismnaturalvariation.blogspot.com/2006/03/autistic-bird.html
joycemocha
Sep 7, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I’ve observed some horses that tend to be what I’d consider to be autistic. Behaviorally, they don’t understand horse body language; that can make them a real challenge to train. Some horses also really require predictability and structure in a manner similar to a person with autism.
I’d say some animals do have autism–if you look at their social language abilities (primarily in the non-verbal, body language realm).
Chuck
Sep 7, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I have told my wife for years that all cats are autistic. The fact that you are there is completely irrelevant to them. :)
Amanda
Sep 7, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Although the fact that you are there is neither irrelevant to cats nor autistic people.
I am still bemused by the fact that a reporter came into my house, I immediately turned directly away from her and stared out the window, and she wrote this up as my showing no reaction to her at all.
If she hadn’t been there I wouldn’t have been afraid enough to turn away from her, nor had anyone to turn away from.
Sig
Sep 7, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Study a Finnish Spitz, a dog breed commonly known to be intelligent yet epileptic.
Compare to human autism.
What do you see?
Daisy
Sep 8, 2007 at 7:54 pm
A non-verbal mouse? Sorry. this one made me laugh out loud. What a concept!
Dan
Sep 9, 2007 at 1:40 am
When my hunny & I got married, I joked that one of my step-cats had “pawtism.” My two boys are on the spectrum; and, though, I do not theologically believe in karma, I can’t help but think about all my jokes about pautism, the short bus, etc….(Sigh). God, you’re not mad at me, are you? No? Good. Thanks! (BTW, I am being facetious…my little guys are Blessings # 2 & #3 in my life; right after my hunny - #1 and #2a - my daughter, and #2’s twin sister!)
Can Animals Have Autism? (2)
Sep 20, 2007 at 11:22 pm
[…] that is, animals can have autism. ASD, Aspergers, autism, children, dogs, family, fruit flies, health, hipportherapy, horse, […]
Carol
Dec 19, 2007 at 2:35 am
Certainly cats have autism. I have a savannah and within a month I told my husband, I though he was autistic. While some cats may not be autistic, hybrids such as my savannah which has approximately 12% wild serval in him is surely autistic. I would venture to stay that wild aminals could be classified as having autism while domestic may or may not. Not having autism is probably the unusual verses the norm.
tracey
Apr 6, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I think my dog may be autistic. That is how i found this sight, googling autism in animals. She does not bark, but makes a whining whimpering sound when she wants something. She has uncontrolled, jerking movements sometimes, awfully stubborn, repetitive actions, and sometimes just looks at you like “I don’t understand”. If anyone has any info on autistic animals or dogs specifically, it would be a help.
Tim
Jul 22, 2008 at 1:21 am
I do believe it is possible for canines to be autistic. I teach several autistic young people in the music field and have observed the patterns. I also raise a “designer breed” of dogs known as Jugs- 1/2 Pug 1/2 Jack Russell. Though each one have their own distinctive personalities, one of my males does not like to socialize with the other five dogs, freaks out if you make eye contact, and goes into convulsive states if one picks him up to pamper or cuddle him. He is perfectly content though to lay at your side and does like to be petted, but as soon as eye contact is made, or an effort to get closer, he goes into his paranoid state. He also exhibits a set pattern of “almost ritualistic actions” when he is fed. He will spin himself and roll over three times, then run to his dish. Despite he is different, like his human counter parts, he is still a beautiful creatue and displays love in his own way.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jul 22, 2008 at 1:34 am
Fascinating—-a friend has a Jack Russell, very high strung so to speak (the dog that is).
donald savitz
Jul 22, 2008 at 9:22 am
What I would to know what these mad reseachers feed or iject into the mice to get to get the results of that mouse to get Autism. IF you what it takes to give an animal Autism then wouldn”t you think it would be wise to keep these things away from babies either before birth of after. Was it the thimerosl after birth or did they feed the mother some before birth. SO LETS HEAR IT. IT is nice to hear what they can do and but it would be nice to how they are ging fix it!
Clare
Oct 3, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I know one of my cats is autistic, compared to my other cats. I had him from 3 weeks old, as a feral abandoned baby. He’s now over a year. He grew up biting my other cats as a way to play, but didn’t get a clue when the game was no longer fun (i.e. he outweighed them). He has made enemies of my older two cats. He has practically no meow, unless panicked, then it comes out weird and strained. He has a perpetually wild eyed look, and jumps up in my arms if I get upset, and starts purring until I calm down. His play with other cats seems very one-sided. He get easily irritated by being touched by anyone, even though he was raised as a bottle fed baby. He seems autistic only compared to my other cats. He’s definitely “different.” He’s my baby.
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