Mice Learn Tasks That May Help Treat Human Psychiatric Disorders.

AScribe Health News Service, August, 2006

Byline: Purdue University

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Aug. 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- Mice that couldn't be dissuaded from the object of their attention by a piece of sweet, crunchy cereal may help researchers find new treatments and cures for human disorders like autism and Parkinson's disease.

For the first time, a psychiatric test for monitoring many human mental abnormalities has been adapted for use in mice, according to researchers at Purdue University, University of California-Davis and Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. The test involves the ability to switch attention from one task to another, a skill often impaired in people with autism and similar illnesses.

"Without a measure of cognitive deficit in mice that is relevant to such...

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